Dark Shards: Lights and Shadows (old version)
by K.A. Mist
Summary: It didn't take a genius like Light to notice that there was something off about his reflection. For one, he was sure that his eyes were not red. He did not smile like that. Light thought he might be going crazy when it starts to talk to him. (Eventual LxLight)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note**

* * *

The wicked man stared back at him, his red eyes glowing menacingly as he smiled. The smile wasn't friendly either.

It was a smile full of evil, of malice.

The smile of someone who wants to see the world burn. He could see what it wants, the desire of it mirrors his own.

Justice.

A world without filth or sin.

A clean utopia.

The man - 'it', wants a new world as well. A world without crimes nor sinners. A clean world. But in its version, the only sinner is itself.

A dark shadow was cast across its face, " _We will create this world_."

He stared helplessly at it. Its lips were spread into a wider grin, _"We will rid the world of filth."_

"Filth…" he uttered.

 _"We will strike down whoever opposes us,"_ it coaxed.

"Strike…"

That smile invited him, tempted him, incited him to do as it says.

 _"Come,"_ it says, its red eyes glowing ever sharper.

He reached out for it.

* * *

A knocking sound startled him.

Light found himself staring at the mirror, clear water still dripping from his face. He pulled his hand back, where it had hovered near the cold, reflective surface.

"Light," a muffled voice called from the other side of the door, "What are you doing?"

Light blinked at the image of himself, confusion etched on his face as he wonders what the hell happened before his mother had knocked the door. He stared, his mind faintly picking up that something must've been there.

A fly maybe?

He stared at his reflection, diligently searching for signs on his face on what it might be.

Nothing.

Whatever that was, it's gone now.

"Light?"

"I'm fine," he said, loud enough for Sachiko to hear, "I'll be down soon."

"Hurry up for breakfast before you're late!"

"Yes, mother," he said, patting his face dry and smoothening his hair. He wouldn't have it if a strand was to go out of place. Light hung the towel and took a last, puzzled glance at the mirror, before walking out of the bathroom.

As the door slowly creaks close, a distant laugh started up. A black and red cloud swirled in the mirror as the cackles grew even louder, echoing in the confines of the bathroom. The door clicks shut and the voice disappears.


	2. Confrontation

The cool wind blew gently through the air, bringing the strong scent of flowers and warmth that enveloped the area. It's the peak of spring, a season of peace of new beginnings. It seemed much too peaceful to be true when so much had happened in the last few months.

Light Yagami idly stared at the cherry trees beyond the school fence as he walked, his white shoes tapping against the pavement amongst other footsteps. He wore a white shirt that day, with his beige sweater over it, having a pair of brown pants to match his outfit. The spring breeze whipped at his hair, which promptly fell back into place when it died down.

He absent-mindedly brushed his hair with a hand, regardless.

Light strode through the campus gate among the other students amid incomprehensible murmurs. He took stock of the scene, seeing some first-years like him hurrying to their classes and the seniors sauntering about, huddled in groups and chatting amongst themselves from their majors to past times to the television program last night. Some students from Daikoku spotted him and waved. Light smiled back, his brown eyes vacant as they settled on them.

He had no concern for these people whatsoever. They are merely sheep to him, part of the masses, faceless individuals lost in the crowd. They are not worth his attention, he only mingled with them solely to maintain his reputation as the perfect student with an actual social life.

Light vaguely remembered once he actually cared for people. Since when had he became so utterly detached? His mind quickly dismissed the thought and instead moved on to focus on more important matters.

L.

Since the detective had taken up the Kira Case from the police force, quite a number of things had occurred that constantly kept Light on his guard. The world's best detective is impressive indeed, quite daringly challenging him on live television, knowingly taking the risk of certain death. He had not known how Kira kills, yet he was able to guess that a name and face is needed in order to do so and gambled with that.

Light found himself admiring the man (or woman?) quite a bit.

L's first major move was to send the FBI agents to tail his suspects, which he wisely deduced were related to the police force. With some careful and outlandish planning on his part, Light was able to trick the name out of the FBI agent, Raye Penber, which he made another elaborate plan and manipulated him to kill the other agents on this case. With all his tails dead, L lost his leads and had to come up with something else in order to catch him.

Light had thought himself safe until Penber's fiancée showed up. It was an oversight on his part and he was lucky enough to have run into her before she found L and provided him with vital information about Kira. It would've landed him a fatal position. Light manipulated and successfully tricked her name out of her before sending her to her death where no one would be able to find her remains, keeping his secret safe yet again.

Although, what she had mentioned while Light was focusing on lying and skirting around her are without a doubt, the truth. Misora had clearly loved her fiancé and was determined to exact revenge on Kira at the cost of her life. Light felt he had to admire that of her.

Such a pity that a strong and respectable woman like that had to die.

Light had been against killing the innocent, only focusing on criminals since his goal was to rid the world of evil-doers to protect the innocent. The FBI and Misora had opposed him and tried to help L expose him after all. Light had to kill them to prevent that, as distasteful as it is.

It's for a better cause, there's no reason for him to feel remorse for that.

A slight prickling began at the back of his skull, dully trying to remind him of something. Light stopped in his tracks on his way through campus, blinking.

 _What was that?_

Then it was gone, forgotten like the early days of his infancy.

Light shook his head, dismissing that and continued through the walkway, his mind returning to its original track.

L had tried camera surveillance next, having someone break into his house and planting cameras everywhere. Light found out through Ryuk that he had exactly sixty-four cameras staring at him in his room. That was overkill, in his opinion. Or L was hinting that Light is actually his prime suspect, which Light is sure that was what he would do.

To counter that, Light came up with an ingenious idea of his own.

Light smirked to himself, it had been brilliant, if careful planning and using the Death Note right under L's watchful eye is anything to go by.

Although, it was a shame that Light had to discard the expensive device along with his empty bag of potato chips in order to get rid of the evidence.

Twice L had made extensive attempts to catch him, and twice Light had thwarted them. L had went silent since then and Light imagine he should be making his next move soon.

 _What would it be?_

A deafening flap of wings pulled Light out of his thoughts. The teen didn't bother to look up as the Death God, Ryuk, hovered down beside him, his black boots hanging a foot over the path.

Besides, regarding something that isn't visible to everyone else would draw attention to himself.

" **Yo, Light,"** Ryuk grinned, yellow eyes bulging as he showed rows of razor sharp teeth, **"Hadn't it been quiet recently?"**

Light hummed in response, wary of watchful eyes.

" **I'm bored, Light,"** the shinigami continued, wings fluttering about him, his gravelly voice sounding whiny to Light's ears, **"I want entertainment!"**

Light refrained from reacting out of annoyance. He calmly reached into his pocket instead and pulled out his cell, flipping it open and pretended to check his mails, internally groaning at the numerous mails that he hadn't bothered to reply.

"Looks like fun," Light mumbled in reply, eyes scanning through useless words.

He could almost imagine Ryuk's eyes brightening as his wide grin stretched beyond what is humanly possible, **"You think so?"**

Light idly responded to a mail from some girl named Shidehara, answering, "Absolutely."

Ryuk cackled at that, almost giggling in anticipation, **"That's much better!** _ **Hahahahaha**_ **!"**

Light tuned out the sound of laughter that no one else could hear, stepping into the hallway. Students from the school are milling all about him, making their way to class. One of them was even running for the stairs, apparently late. Ryuk hovered by Light, the ignorant humans walking through him like busy specters.

For some reason, he found that amusing and his laughter mingled with the sounds of footsteps and chatter.

Light almost rolled his eyes as he turned a corner, catching the eye of a couple of girls headed in the other direction. They whispered to each other and smiled shyly at him.

Light put up a kind smile and nodded, creating an image of a person who is accepting yet appearing detached enough that they would not pester him later. It was a vital skill that he learnt in high school, where the brunt of girly affection had been thrown at him.

The girls giggled and walked past, timidly waving back at him.

Light ignored them and turned into the lecture room he was to be in, covered with distant murmurs where students are filling in and settling into their seats, chatting with their friends.

He took the stairs up to the back when something starkly black and white demanded his attention.

Light turned curiously, seeing a guy with black hair and pale skin. He can't help but stare, eyes drawn to the haphazard mop of spiky tresses sticking up all over the place as if he hadn't bothered to brush for years, hiding a pair of black eyes that seemed too large for his porcelain skin. Under those eyes are dark shadows that looked almost too permanent to be from the lack of sleep.

An oversized white shirt hung on his frame and he wore baggy jeans, his legs drawn up to crouch on the chair.

There are empty spaces around him where Light reckoned that no one had dared to sit near to this weirdo.

The said weirdo noticed him staring and turned, setting his black eyes on him.

Light blinked and turned away, walking to find a seat further away from him.

He felt the dark, dull eyes following him as he slipped through the row and finally settled on one near the window. Light sat down and began to look for his notes in his bag.

While he did this, the weirdo soundlessly slinked across their distance and perched himself on the seat next to Light in the same crouch, this time, putting his thumb against his lip and staring at him blatantly.

Light paused, turning to stare back at the guy while Ryuk started chuckling at this amusing display.

He was _so_ tempted to shoot Ryuk a glare.

The teen ignored the Death God and allowed a friendly smile, "Can I help you?"

The odd male simply stared at him without even blinking, the dark pools of his eye almost drawing Light in, pulling him into the bottomless depths.

Like damned black holes.

Light suddenly noticed the class beginning to scurry to their seats, presumably at the sight of the professor nearing the lecture hall. He almost snapped at the guy to stop staring when he finally spoke, "Yagami Light?"

"Yes?" Light wasn't surprised that he knew his name. He's a bloody overachiever, it's normal for people to know him instead of the other way round. He certainly didn't know this guy.

A small smile quirked at his thin lips, "Nice to meet you."

Light was rather perplexed by this behavior, which only prompts Ryuk to laugh even harder.

 _What's the deal with this guy?_

Light was about to question him when the lecture room quietened, the old professor entered and greeted them.

In order not to look terribly rude or out of place, Light decided to ignore the strange male and stared straight ahead, almost paying attention as class started.

Still, that guy is really distracting.

Light could feel his dark eyes on him, boring into his skull. He watched him out of the corner of his eye and saw that it is indeed true.

 _Who the hell is this guy?_

Light narrowed it down to a few possibilities and find one of them highly plausible.

That man may be another undercover agent being sent to monitor him, being blatantly obvious this time.

Light refrained from frowning under the pair of watchful eyes.

Is this what L decides to do after all? Send an offbeat, idiotic detective after him just to unnerve and maybe annoy him? Perhaps he is running out of ideas.

Light found himself fuming. And he thought L could do better than this. After all that, he's just a damned coward.

While he's deep in thought, the man scoots closer to him as the professor droned off.

Light briefly glanced at him, then turns back to the front, feigning attention.

"Well, Light," he muttered in a low voice, "Just to let you know this."

Light waited, as the agent guy paused dramatically (that bastard).

"I am L."

The ground seemed to drop beneath his feet then.

 _What?_

Light cautiously glanced at him in disbelief. He vaguely heard Ryuk cackling maniacally behind him, confirming the fact.

That bastard.

He quickly worked out the mentality behind it.

L is crafty, very crafty indeed. By revealing his face and identity to Light, it would've ended up badly. But no, it wouldn't as well. Because Light wouldn't be able to kill him without becoming the prime suspect immediately. L must've anticipated that and took a huge risk like this, appearing to him and telling him that he is indeed L.

Light was infuriated and found himself partly thrilled. L had proved himself once again a worthy opponent, and Light was eager to take up the challenge.

Light discreetly looked at him again and he found L still staring at him, thumb on his lip, a condescending smirk on his face.

 _Very clever L, I do hope you remember who you're dealing with here._

By revealing his face, L may have delayed his hand for a while, but it also sped up the process of Light having to look for him.

 _Go on L, we'll see how this plays out. This move may be able to protect you for a while, but it also signals your early demise._

Light's hand that held his pen twitched slightly.

 _And I will be the one to write your name._

Ryuk laughed heartily behind him, melding together with the crazy laughter that echoed in his head.

He almost didn't catch himself thinking, _"Kill him, kill them all! Then no one shall oppose us!"_


	3. Confusion

"We have captured Misa Amane."

Light stared in disbelief at the scene before him.

L sat nonchalantly before the monitors, casually munching on jellybeans, observing the captive girl in front of him. Misa is blindfolded, strapped up and restrained to a metal board, quietly pleading to her captors. She was kept in an empty room, lights and cameras pointed at her.

"We have found several pieces of evidence in her apartment that points her to being the Second Kira," L explained, "The items used in the mailing of the tape to Sakura Television, stamps, paper from a notebook, the ink of the pen used to write the note was found in her room." There was another crunch as he aggressively bit into a red jellybean, "There are also DNA evidence that connects to her, we found Amane Misa's hair, fingerprints and other things on the second tape. Therefore, this leads me to believe that she is the Second Kira."

Misa quivered in her bonds, blind and deaf to what is happening around her, "Please, don't do this to Misa." A sob wracked through her, "I don't know anything!"

Light noticed that the task force members are pointedly looking away from the sight as much as they could, having no desire to partake in this. Especially when the girl is pleading pitifully like this.

"Ryuzaki," Light started, getting over his shock, "Is there a need to take things this far?"

L turned to him expressionlessly, staring at him and biting into another jellybean with a loud crunch, "It is necessary, we have concluded that the Second Kira was able to kill with just the victims face. I am merely taking precautions."

"Yeah…" Light uttered, appearing to be in defeat.

His mind is reeling.

Light had not expected for L to have captured Misa this quickly. It was only a matter of time before she starts talking.

It's a good thing that he had taken her Death Note, just in case.

"Light-kun," L mentioned, drawing his attention, "You are now the prime suspect of the Kira Case."

"Now hold on, Ryuzaki!" Soichiro burst out, "What do you have to accuse my son of being Kira!"

L regarded the enraged man, "Yagami-san, do you not know that Amane Misa had been coming into contact with your son recently?"

The older man went silent, stumped.

"Exactly the point, Yagami-san," Another obnoxious crunch rang out as he tossed a jellybean in his mouth, "Since there is evidence of Amane Misa being the Second Kira, or at least connected to him, it would be natural to suspect that Light-kun himself would be Kira."

L turned back to the screen before him, "Moreover, your son's profile fitted Kira's exactly. It is expected that he would end up as the suspect."

Soichiro gave a defeated sigh, "I suppose."

"We will interrogate him soon, Yagami-san," L announced, munching still, "Is that alright, Light-kun?"

"Yes," Light answered good-naturedly , "Of course, I have nothing to hide."

 _I may have_ _to kill Misa_ _soon, before she spills my secret._

Light didn't like the idea but his inner voice agreed with him whole-heartedly. He didn't want to get caught after all.

* * *

"L," Light said, his gaze lowered to the floor.

He was aware of the watchful eyes around him, wondering what on earth had brought him here. He sensed uncertainty in the air, the monitor before him no longer showing footage from Misa's room, instead, it showed the list of criminals that had perished over the past few days, he remembered some of the names he had written.

Light silently concluded the confusion was perhaps from Misa losing her memories of the Death Note, it was very possible that she would react differently to the situation.

That would be useful, if Light were to lose his memories of being Kira, it would throw off the investigation since he genuinely wouldn't know that he was Kira. L would have no choice but to believe him. (Light will not expect L to believe him, but expect L to be unable to convict him as Kira, correct this shit)

He let out a breath, this can work.

L turned to him, his thumb at his lip. Light wasn't sure if he was ready to bite it or suck it, since there was no expression on his face, nor is the detective a predictable person.

"Yes, Light-kun?"

"I think…" Light let a little hesitance into his voice, making it believable, "I think I might be Kira."

As expected, his father shot up, bursting, "Light, what are you saying?"

Light noticed a change in L's expression, his wide eyes narrowed very slightly, wondering what his suspect might be up to.

Light resisted the urge to sneer at him and instead adopted an innocent, distracted look on his face, "You suspect me, L. I didn't think that the world's greatest detective would suspect me of being Kira without good reason."

Soichiro looked distressed, "What the hell has gotten into you, Light!"

"Explain yourself, Light," L said, starting to chew on his thumb, staring at him unblinkingly.

"I might be going mad," He confessed, "I might have actually been Kira without knowing it. I met the FBI agent Penber right before he died, I met Misa and got into a relationship with her before and after the Second Kira's tapes."

"If she's the Second Kira," Light continued, "Then I must've been Kira, only that I didn't know it, I may have been killing in my sleep or something."

"I have observed you, Light," the detective said, "Through the cameras in your room, I did not notice anything amiss."

"He was not always under surveillance," Aizawa spoke up, "He could've gone out and killed people during those times."

Light took a deep breath, "That's why I'm saying that I suspect that I might be Kira, and I would've preferred if I'm being constantly monitored, to prove it or otherwise."

L gave him a scrutinizing look and said, "Very well, I shall have you imprisoned along with Misa."

"Ryuzaki!" Soichiro glared at him, "We will not put my son under confinement!"

"Father," Light said sadly, "I have to, or I will never be at ease with the knowledge that I might be Kira."

His father stared at him, then slumped back into his chair, the wood creaking beneath his weight.

"Very well," L removed his thumb from his mouth, "Light-kun will be put under surveillance as he wished. Yagami-san?"

"What?" Soichiro turned to him bleakly.

"I would like you to contact your family and tell them that Light-kun will be moving into a flat with Misa," L glanced at his thumb, "And that he will not be in touch as you disapprove of his relationship and decided to disown him."

Soichiro stared at him unhappily.

"That's just adding to the credibility, of course."

The older man gave a defeated sigh and decided to do as the detective says.

* * *

Confinement

Day 3

Light sat on the hard floor, his knees tucked to his chest and his hands chained behind his back.

He had offered to join Misa in confinement, telling L that he thinks that he might be Kira and asking L to detain him.

It was all to save Misa and to avoid getting killed by Rem.

 _What troublesome bunch_ , Light thought to himself as he pulled his knees closer to his chest.

There was a click and L's deadpan voice filled his room, "May I know what you're thinking, Light-kun?"

Light didn't answer, appearing to be contemplating about something.

"Light-kun?"

He stirred, raising his head to face the camera, "What's happening out there, Ryuzaki?"

There was a pause, before the voice returned, "The criminals have stopped dying, Light-kun."

"I see," Light muttered, looking defeated, "That could only confirm that I'm Kira, then."

"Are you confessing?"

Light shook his head slowly, "I can't do that, Ryuzaki, I don't even recall myself doing anything like… what Kira did."

 _Damn it, could the shinigami hurry up already?_

"I see," L said, "Then I'm afraid you will have to remain in here until you decide to confess, or if anything new comes up."

There was a click and Light was greeted with silence.

* * *

Day 5

L sat before the monitors, the bluish glow illuminating his face in a deathly pallor. He sat licking ice cream off his spoon, idly watching the three detainees on the screens.

Amane Misa had her head drooping, her blonde hair falling about her face, still strapped to the board. She was still albeit the soft breathing that the microphone managed to pick up, dozing in her uncomfortable position.

Light sat in the same position he had when L last spoke to him. In fact, he had spent most of his time sitting like this, staring into space. L could almost see the gears turning beneath his seemingly blank gaze.

 _He is definitely planning something_ , he thought. Maybe the plan had already gone in motion but L had no way of knowing for sure. The only thing he can do right now is to monitor the death of criminals via Kira and watch the two suspects.

His dark eyes flickered to the third screen, where Light's father is kept. The older man had asked to be confined along with his son, out of his son's interest and the investigation. He sat, looking pale from worry as he stared at the floor, deep in thought.

Those two are so similar to each other that it's obvious they are related.

L had asked Soichiro if he wanted to move to a more comfortable cell, which he vehemently refused until his son had been cleared.

L sighed, tapping his spoon on the side of the bowl.

This is rather tiresome, but he had to be on his guard.

Kira must've planned something in advance if he were willing to be put under surveillance like this, unable to move or kill as he had desired, which only puts more suspicion onto him. Until then, L had to figure this all out.

Someday, Kira would be caught.

* * *

Day 7

Aizawa and Matsuda sat alongside him in the dark room, staring at the screens. L noted that the criminals had not been dying at all, only reinforcing the speculation that Light Yagami is indeed Kira. The other task force members are aware of this as well and are casting a sickened gaze at the sight before them.

Amane Misa is still tied to the board, still groaning about stalkers from before Light had offered to be confined. L found that change to be rather peculiar, as she had been silent and sobbing before, as if afraid that she will give herself and her accomplice away. He hadn't concluded the reason behind that change and turned his attention to the middle screen.

Light laid limply across the floor, a sight of exhaustion and misery. His brown hair covered most of his face and L almost couldn't tell whether he was awake or asleep if not for the changes in his breathing patterns. L couldn't pinpoint what had caused these changes, as there was nothing in the room with him.

It's all very unusual.

L reached for the button on the intercom and pressed it with a click, "You don't look too good there, Light-kun."

The teen answered with a weak chuckle, "Obviously not."

He turned over, revealing his tired face.

L found, even when confined and looking incredibly fatigued, a sort of radiance still showed from Light. It's astonishing how the boy managed to look attractive even in this dire circumstances.

People shouldn't be allowed to have abilities like this.

"Your situation is not looking very good right now, Light-kun," L mentioned, "Criminals have stopped dying for four days and it only increased the percentage of you being Kira."

Light didn't seemed bothered by the comment. He took a deep breath and uttered, "Perhaps I shouldn't have offered to do this after all."

L didn't say anything to that, taking a bite of his forgotten chocolate cake.

Light then mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Come again?"

"It's stupid…" He said with a sigh, starting to trail off again, "This pride… I'll have to…"

L watched as he shifted, lifting his head.

" _Get rid of it."_

He blinked, _what an odd thing to say._

Suddenly, Light's eyes fluttered close and his head drooped, hitting the floor with a soft thud.

L was worried that he had passed out when his eyes flew open.

Light blinked once, twice. Then he shot up suddenly, all manner of exhaustion gone. He looked around as if seeing the room for the first time, then paused, staring into space for a second, looking utterly lost.

L noticed his eye had lightened up a shade, the dark look behind them seemingly dissipated.

 _What just happened?_

"Light-kun?"

"Ryuzaki," Even his tone has changed (the tone of his voice u incompetent fool), L noted.

"What's the matter, Light?" L asked, curiosity burning in his brain. Even Matsuda and Aizawa are staring at him, puzzled.

"This is a mistake," he blurted, "I've no idea why I agreed on this. I'm not Kira, let me go!"

"You clearly offered to do this," L said, reigning in his confusion, "I can't let you go unless you have been cleared."

Light started glaring at the camera, "I'm telling you, I'm not Kira!"

"It's much too late to back out now, Light-kun," L said, as the other two watched him silently, "You will have to stay in here until evidence proves otherwise, you insisted."

Light froze, his expression conveyed, 'How can you do this?' He then leaned against the cot, head lowered in defeat.

The investigation room was silent again, other than the sound of L crunching on chocolate wafer in frustration.

"What was that?" Aizawa uttered.

Matsuda shook his head, bewildered.

L started chewing on his thumb, staring intently at Light, who had hidden his face yet again.

That reaction earlier, it was as if he suddenly had no idea where he was. L considered the possibility of confinement affecting his thinking but ruled that out promptly. Light doesn't simply forget things like that, he had always been observant and aware of his environment even when he was unconscious.

What happened earlier can't be explained simply. L would need more evidence and more clues before he can come to a conclusion. But so far, the chances of Light having been controlled by Kira had just increased. So is the possibility of Kira abandoning Light.

This all doesn't add up.

* * *

After L had went silent, Light stared down at his feet in panic and confusion, dismay biting at his chest.

Honestly, what on earth was he doing when he told L that time he thought he might be Kira and asked to be confined? That wasn't the case, at all.

He was definitely _not_ Kira and he knew it.

Light went over his memories and paused.

He suddenly noticed that there are some points in his memories that he had truthfully forgotten. Light don't just forget things like that, and he certainly doesn't let that misgiving go until he can get to the bottom of it.

Something was definitely wrong.

Light drew his knees up to his chest, not caring if L is staring at him at this moment.

There are lapses in his memories, he recalled. He had not remembered what he had thought at some points in time. Sometimes, he would be doing something, then forgotten what he did. The gaps in the timing had been too strange.

Light remembered making his way to the yard in high school, even if he had no reason to go there in the first place.

Why?

He would remember if there was something, and if he had forgotten he would try to go over that piece of memories again and again because it was supposed to be salvageable. He won't stop at it because he just hated not knowing.

Nothing makes sense.

 _What if he was Kira and he didn't even know about it?_

Light drew his knees snug against his chest, fear blooming in his heart.

No, he can't be Kira.

He cared too much about people, he hadn't had the heart to kill anyway.

Light closed his eyes, trying to find comfort in the small space that he's stuck in.


	4. Reflections

_It was day, sunlight filtered through the window, the sky bright and clear._

 _Light found himself standing in the middle of his room, facing his desk_ _._ _There was a thin, black notebook lying on it, open to a blank page._ _He stared at it, puzzled._ _He was certain it did not belong to him_ _. He barely had any need for them._

' _Perhaps it's Sayu's', he thought. He remembered she had came in earlier to ask for help with her homework and left it here. It seemed a bit unusual, as Sayu had clearly preferred brightly colored things._

 _Light intent to ask her about it, turning and almost falling over in shock._

 _For there was a man standing before him, staring straight at him. Light found himself speechless, unable to form words in his brain._

 _That was due to the fact that said_ _man looked exactly like him, it was no different from looking into a mirror_ _._

 _As Light started to calm from his initial panic of finding a stranger in his room, he began to notice some differences between the man and himself._

 _Unlike what he usually saw in a mirror, the male before him_ _had reddish brown hair_ _, perfectly styled like his own._ _His face carved exactly like his_ _. Light's critical eye noticed that_ _his skin is somewhat paler than his own_ _._

 _Much unlike his own, the man_ _had chilling red eyes_ _._

 _It was eerie, to see your own face that's not quite yours._

 _Light and his lookalike stared at each other for a long moments, before he gained enough sense to slip out of his shocked trance and demanded,_ _"Who are you?"_

 _The man did not answer._

 _Instead, he smiled._

 _A twisted, wicked smile_ _that made Light even more sure that it was definitely not him._

 _Light started to back away when it suddenly lunged,_ _red eyes flashing with wicked glee, pale, crooked fingers reaching for his throat._

* * *

Light gasped as his eyes flew open, seeing nothing but blackness.

For a moment, Light panicked, unsure of where he is or why he could see nothing. There was quick, soft breathing that he realized was his own. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he saw himself in a somewhat strange yet familiar room. His eyes made out the silhouette of a white wardrobe and a window beside it, dull moonlight slanting into the room where beige curtains failed to cover it.

Light remembered that he's in the taskforce building, on the sixteenth floor, in L's bedroom.

 _L and his bedroom_ , he corrected unhappily.

The teen slowly turned behind him, seeing the detective crouched on his side of the bed, staring at him with his large black eyes, head tilted to the side and thumb resting on his lower lip.

His laptop sat forgotten on his desk, the bright glow of the screen illuminating the walls which Light had pointedly faced away from.

"A nightmare, Light-kun?" He questioned evenly, clearing any lingering doubt that Light might have had about L not having noticed anything.

"None of your business," Light grumbled sleepily, turning back to face away from L and grabbing his pillow to block out the light.

He could still feel L's eyes on him as the detective persisted on watching him silently, as if expecting him to turn around and snap at him.

Light had learnt that the action didn't deter the freak at all, it instead seemed to encourage L to prolong his suffering.

It was best to ignore him.

The silence dragged on, the light from the laptop eventually dimmed as it went into screensaver mode.

Light felt the mattress shift then, as L got off the bed, the movement accompanied by the soft clinking of the chain connecting their wrists.

Yes, the chain. Light had almost forgotten.

Apparently the Great L had decided the best course of action to take would be to chain himself to Light in order to keep an eye on him. According to his terms, the six-foot chain would be on one of their wrists at all times unless they were to take a bath.

Meaning that it will be on while they're asleep and while they're using the bathroom.

Light sighed inwardly, he had only agreed because he had to prove his innocence, since L is vehemently accusing him of being Kira.

Soft typing started up again, keeping Light at the edge of consciousness. Now that Light had gained some rest over his sleep-deprivation for the last few days (thanks to that bastard), it is harder for him to fall asleep with the typing.

L wasn't really making a lot of noise, but Light was a light sleeper by nature and he found himself being punished by that at this very moment.

He shifted under his covers, inwardly groaning at his susceptive mind.

As he was kept awake by the sound of L working, his mind wandered back to his disturbing dream. A shiver threatened to run down his spine as he thought about his doppelganger with the chilling red eyes.

 _What was that all about anyway?_

The typing started to fade into the back of his mind as he felt his consciousness slipping.

 _Probably nothing, it's just a dream._

* * *

Light sat before his computer, skimming through the names of Kira victims that had passed away over the past six weeks. More specifically, those that had died while he was in confinement. Light could still recall the events that took place a few days ago, where L had finally released him.

The situation had been thick with panic and confusion as his father had burst into the rooms that he and Misa had been confined in, before carting them out and throwing them into a car. He then proceeded to lie about L thinking that Light had been guilty of Kira's murders and Misa the Second Kira's. His father had taken up the task to transport them to their execution site.

He then proceeded to tell them that he had actually used this opportunity to get to a secluded area to kill Light and then himself, unable to live with the fact that his son is Kira. As the devoted upholder of Justice itself, he felt that he had to end Light with his own hands.

Light felt wrongly accused and protested over and over that he wasn't Kira. His father wouldn't listen.

 _He's not Kira._

 _He wasn't._

 _Why couldn't he understand?_

Then his father pulled his gun on him and Light's heart stopped. He vaguely heard Misa blabbering and shrieking beside him.

"I'll see you in Hell," his father had said solemnly, before pulling the trigger.

After that, Light's body couldn't decide whether to pass out or throw up. In the end, he did neither, preserving what little dignity he had left after his panicked protests and being kept in a room like a prisoner for fifty days.

It was all a ploy by L, seeing whether Light would kill his father in self-defense under such stressful situations.

Kill his own father?

They think too highly of him. Light was sure that he would rather take his own life in a multitude of terrible and horrifying ways than murder his own father.

Though the way L went about it wasn't wrong, since Kira would probably kill his own parents in order to save himself. He only wished that it hadn't been so _damned_ traumatizing.

Light was sure he won't be able to see another gun without screaming in fear, which he really would rather not do.

Light turned slightly, studying the detective out of the corner of his eye in lazy spite.

L was perched on his chair in the same way he usually is, back curved and legs tucked close to his body. Light was amazed that he hadn't fallen out of his chair yet. He was holding a stalk of cherry in his strange pincer grip, his thumb and index finger pinching the stem as he dangled it above his mouth. His other hand laid languidly on the keyboard as he stared at the screen with a tilted gaze.

Light watched as his tongue darted up slightly as the cherry disappeared into his mouth, pulling it off the stalk. L dropped the stalk into a small bowl as he chewed.

L, the freak of nature that he is, suddenly noticed that he's being watched and turned, his black eyes meeting Light's.

The teen turned away hurriedly, embarrassed at being caught staring.

 _What the hell was he even so fascinated with, anyway?_

Light tried to ignore him as he went back to work.

Apparently, L (that bastard) wouldn't let him off that easily.

L pointedly stared at him as he picked up another stalk, with a particularly huge fruit. Light somehow found his eyes trailing back to the strange man, dangling the cherry above his mouth in the same manner as earlier. He peered at the strange man as a pink tongue appeared and wrapped around the fruit.

L licked at it, subtly staring at Light all the while.

Light vaguely realized that this situation is getting _very, very weird_ as L continued to play with his food.

The cherry, as well as the red stalk disappeared into his mouth the exact moment Light heard his name being called.

He spun to see the self-appointed errand boy, Matsuda, smiling cheerily at him, "Here's your coffee."

"Thanks," Light said as he distractedly took his mug from the older man, his mind buzzing from the strangeness as he placed it carefully beside his computer.

"Are you okay?" Matsuda asked, concern etched on his face. Why did he have to be so god damned emotionally attuned?

"Yeah," Light forced a smile onto his face as he prayed for Matsuda to leave him alone, "I'm alright."

Thankfully, the older male didn't mention anything else as he smiled back, "Alright then, call me if you need, Light-kun."

Light nodded as he walked away, turning back to his screen and letting out a soft breath. He should really ignore the freak of nature for a few hours at least, if he wanted to maintain a hold on his already fraying sanity.

"Light-kun," the low voice softly touched his ear.

He ignored it, as he promised himself.

 _Nope, nothing is going on, everything is just fine._

"Light-kun."

 _Fine, it's fine. It'll go away soon._

It did go away, for a couple of minutes before L attempted to grab his attention for a third time.

Light turned to him, keeping his face devoid of any expression in, a herculean feat in itself as he questioned blandly, "What?"

"Hold out your hand," the detective said expressionlessly.

Animosity dissipated as curiosity took over. Light held out his hand, his open palm facing up, wondering what the hell is the weirdo is up to.

L smiled faintly as he dropped something red into his hand.

Light stared at the object, not seeing what it is.

The next second, it dawned what this mysterious thing is.

A knotted cherry stalk, Light's eyes widened in mortification. There are traces of moisture clinging to it, which explains why it felt damp and cool to the touch.

Light gave a small yelp as he flicked the disgusting thing out of his hand.

L's eyes followed it as it flew across the room and landed quite impressively into Aizawa's coffee with a 'plop'. The man in question was on the other side of the room at that time, lost in a discussion with his colleague, Mogi.

"What'd you do that for?" Light demanded, partly horrified and partly enraged.

"It was a present," L mumbled as he hid an amused smile, "Light-kun was staring at it so I thought you would appreciate that."

"It was great that you can tie knots with your tongue, _Ryuuzaki_ ," Light glared at the absurd man. "However, I have no desire to touch something that was in your gross mouth!" _You demented freak of nature_ , he silently added.

L disregarded the completely livid glare that the teen is sending him as he picked up another cherry, eating it in his strange way with a nonchalant look on his face.

Light growled as he went back to work, anger pouring off him in waves.

 _Freak. Wacko. Asshole._

The teen then noticed the clueless Aizawa reach over and took a sip of his coffee. He paused, lowering his mug and staring into it bewilderedly, the offensive cherry knot floating in the drink.

Light pretended he saw nothing and resumed his staring of the names on the screen.

* * *

 _A knock startled him out of his work._

 _Light turned to the door, papers laid out on his desk, his laptop humming in front of him._ _He glanced at the screen, seeing numerous unknown names and faces that filled the window. Light dismissed the reason why he had that on his monitor as he peered at the time._

 _ **22:45**_ _. Light thought he told his mother and Sayu not to disturb him. Besides, shouldn't they be sleeping?_

 _Another_ _knock sounded at his door._

 _Light sighed as he minimized the window, pushed himself off his chair and walked to the door, opening it._

 _He was greeted with_ _a dark and empty hallway_ _._

 _Light turned left and right, bewildered as he saw no one. The lights were all off, as well._

 _Maybe he's hearing things._

 _Light was about to return to his room to finish his studying when he_ _heard a distant knock_ _._

 _It was from the front door._

 _He blinked._

 _Who would it be at this time of the night?_

 _Light glanced about another time._ _No lights went on as his family remained sleeping, the silence deafening him_ _._

 _The knock came again_ _, a tad louder this time._

 _Light had to be the one to open the door._

 _He sighed as he headed for the stairs, reaching the first floor and walking up to the entrance as_ _the knocking persisted, now a continuous thud-thud-thud_ _._

 _Light was reaching for the doorknob when_ _it abruptly stopped_ _, as if whoever is on the other side knew he was opening it. He hesitated, hand hovering over the brass handle._

 _Suddenly, Light felt_ _uneasy as something clicked in the logical part of his mind_ _._

 _How the hell would he know?_

 _His breathing was suddenly too loud in the dark space._

 _Light slowly lowered his hand, staring apprehensively at the doorknob._ _He took a step forward to peer through the eyehole to see who was there._

 _There was indeed a dark figure before the door. However, he couldn't make out who it was there were_ _no lights were on_ _. The porch lights, street lamps are all off_ _, it was almost pitch-black_ _. There was only the dim glow of the moon that allowed him to see the figure in the first place._

 _How strange._

 _Light swallowed down a lump of fear, before gathering up his courage to speak in a level voice._

" _Who is it?"_

 _He felt the unseen person looked straight at him._

 _The porch light flickered on and Light stared in horror at the evil version of his own face, sneering at him._

 _Light could feel it smirking as it spoke in a perfect_ _replica of his voice_ _(Add: more sinister, lower, just not good),_ _"It's just you."_

 _He stumbled back in fright, falling over as_ _the door flew open_ _. It stepped in, smiling down at him, red eyes full of glee as it laughed scornfully._

 _Light backed away as_ _it got closer and closer and closer…_

* * *

Light gasped as his body twitched violently, eyes flying open as his panicked breaths filled the air.

He clutched on to the covers for a long moment, steadying his breaths as the now-familiar outline of the room slowly came into view.

Light sighed.

Just a damned nightmare.

He shifted and sat up, suddenly aware of two black eyes staring at him. Light turned to face L, who's in the same spot as the night before, staring at him blatantly with an intrigued look on his face.

"Another nightmare, Light-kun?"

Light took a breath and answered, "Yeah."

L tilted his head, he didn't quite expect the boy to answer him honestly. Or even respond, for that matter.

A sense of uneasiness crawled over his skin as Light felt himself observed, dark eyes prying his form for any secrets he could've had. That dream disturbed him as well, to have dreamt similar things for two nights in a row.

He shivered, suddenly aware of cold sweat that remained on his forehead and neck.

"Ryuuzaki," he uttered, using the detective's alias.

"Yes?"

"I would like to use the bathroom."

L gave a small sigh as he jumped off the bed, the chains jiggling at the sudden movement, "Very well."

He let the teen lead him to the bathroom connected to the room. Light entered and swung the door as far as it would go, unable to close fully due to the chain that connected their wrists. L simply waited by the door, assuming his hunched over stance.

Light turned the tap on and washed the sweat off his face, before toweling it dry. He glanced at his face in the mirror, then found something very wrong.

He almost didn't notice it at first.

Then his sleep addled brain convinced him to look again.

He did.

And what he saw was enough to tear a sharp cry of distress out of him.

Light gaped at his reflection, unable to believe what his eyes are telling him.

Visions of his nightmares came back to him, filling him with a newfound sense of terror as the thing smirked at him.

It was the exact replica of his face, other than the red hair, pale face and the bone chilling eyes.

Light took a step back as the door swung open.

"Light-kun?"

The teen's eyes remained glued to the horrifying sight as it cackled in the smooth tenor of his voice, delighting in his terror.

"Light-kun?" L's worried tone went unnoticed as Light continued to stare at the mirror.

A cool touch startled him out of his frozen state.

He turned to L, finding a pale hand on his arm, "What's wrong?"

Light turned back to the mirror, seeing the evil version of himself smirking at him, as if taunting him to tell the detective exactly what is wrong.

Some part of Light's brain that isn't consumed by shock and fear realized what it must've looked like to the detective, since L obviously cannot see that… that thing in the mirror. He decided he isn't looking forward to be labeled 'insane' anytime soon or make himself look all the more suspicious by stating such an absurd claim to the detective who is already absurd enough himself.

Light swallowed and took a steady breath, "I-It's nothing."

He let out a self-deprecating laugh and forced a more natural expression on his face, "I suppose I might've been a bit tired."

He could feel L studying him, already disbelieving of his words, glancing at the mirror to try and see what the teen had been so terrified of.

To his relief, the detective dropped it and muttered, "If there is nothing, we shall return to bed."

Light nodded with an easy smile on his face as the horrid thing started laughing again, a wicked gleam in its red eyes as the two exited the washroom.


	5. Invitation

Discombobulate.

A noun meaning to confuse, disconcert, upset or frustrate. A lesser known word in the English vocabulary that originated between 1825 and 1835, an alteration of the words discompose or discomfort.

It can simply be written confuse, but L found himself refusing to use such a basic word to refer to himself.

He might say that he's bemused, perplexed or even stumped.

But discombobulated seemed to fit the situation quite perfectly.

It was rather amusing that L had found himself, the first time in many years, quite utterly bewildered and lost.

The source of it - Light Yagami.

It was not a difficult case, nor a strange and puzzling situation or even the unanswered questions in the universe.

It was instead one seventeen-year-old boy, who had managed to muddle the greatest detective in the world quite badly.

What a joke. Ha-ha-ha.

L held back his urge to give a deadpan laugh that might lead the others to question his sanity and instead gnaw on his thumb, an action he usually did when he's frustrated.

Other than that, L didn't find it compelling or effective to eat his own hand. It's a good thing he didn't often find himself in this stifling mood.

It's insulting to his status.

L found himself once again setting his eyes upon the teen, whose entire focus is on the data in front of his screen.

It was almost a month since the Task Force had moved to their new location. Yet they had not gained any leads on the Kira that's currently rampaging out there.

Despite being chained to Light for a longer time that he'd gotten to know anybody (except for dear old Watari), L couldn't figure out what the heck is wrong with him.

Suffice to say, he's an enigma.

For over the span of three months, Light Yagami had changed once again.

The first was in the cell, where he seemed to shed his being of Kira completely, throwing the detective off. This time, it wasn't as drastic. Light was still the same person that he is since then, quite boyish and hot-headed, unlike the first version that he knew.

No one else could sense it, but Light had a certain dark look in his eyes, like there's a dark secret that he could not reveal. It seemed as though he's terrified of it as well.

Much like in his cell, Light seemed to be reacting to another presence from time to time, even if the only person there is him and L.

Perhaps it's the same one from that time, but there's no way to know for sure.

L bit into his thumb too hard that time, removing it from his mouth and grimacing at it.

There are indeed more signs and clues this time. And instead of getting closer to the answer, more questions are popping up, frustrating him to no end.

L placed his pale hand on top of his knee and stared at his screen, not really seeing anything on it. There's no need to look over the data that he'd already seen.

The Kira trail had ran cold for him after all, especially after the fact that he'd chased after the youth only to be thwarted right when he was about to get him.

L glanced over at Light again, taking note of the intense concentration present on his face. He looked paler than usual, faint shadows appearing under his eyes due to the loss of sleep he'd experienced over the last week.

This was all done in order to catch Kira, he said. He wanted it to be over as quickly as possible, so he heard.

The detective couldn't fathom the reason for the sudden surge of motivation for Light to forgo sleep. The Light that actually values his personal health and looks and was absolutely pissed off at L for not letting him have that the first few days of surveillance.

L could only link it to the sudden change in demeanor of the boy since the night a few weeks ago, where he had been in the bathroom and promptly freaked out for some reason.

It was strange and all, L was slightly worried for him right then.

Light had so obviously lied to him after that, making L question just what the hell had happened.

He didn't ask anymore after that, because Light is the kind of person that would run away the more you try to probe into the matter.

And he had too much pride to admit that anything is wrong.

L tore his gaze away from the boy who hadn't noticed him and resumed his thumb biting.

While the others silently worked, L eyed the mug sitting by Light's computer. He looked up at the brunette another time, who's now scrolling through a report with rather impressive speed.

He is completely focused and unaware of his surroundings, L noted with satisfaction.

He reached over languidly, pulling the mug closer to him. The chains jiggled a tiny bit but it was nothing to worry about.

L glanced at him.

Light didn't notice a thing.

He smirked to himself as he picked up the bowl of sugar that he'd lost interest in, dropping them into his coffee one by one.

L thought he had done enough damage by the eighteenth cube, grabbing his own teaspoon and stirring the drink up as silently as he could, before pushing the mug back where it had been.

Then he waited.

It took almost ten minutes for Light to finally grab his mug and take a sip.

His reaction – the absolute best.

The moment the coffee touched his tongue, Light had choked and spewed the drink, his eyes bugging at the horrendous taste of it. It flowed down his lips, mostly dripping down onto his beige sweater, leaving a visible stain. A couple drops even made it onto the screen.

L almost chuckled at the sight but forced his face to remain neutral and devoid of expression.

Light wiped his mouth and glared at him, "Ryuuzaki, what the hell?"

L could feel the others' eyes on them, obviously curious about the sudden outburst.

"Light-kun's coffee seemed a bit too bitter," he responded with all the innocence he could muster, "So I decided to sweeten it up."

Light's glare grew toxic, "You're insufferable!"

L didn't dignify that with an answer and instead, hopped off his chair. Light stood up after him, seemingly prepared to clobber him, his chair rolling back from the way he shot to his feet.

"It appears Light-kun is in need of a change of clothes," L stated suddenly as the younger male stepped towards him. Light paused, looking down at his shirt, his anger towards the detective momentarily forgotten.

"We shall have to suspend our work until then," L continued.

Light looked up and growled irritably, "Your damned fault."

He then proceeded to storm out of the room, L followed him quickly to avoid being dragged off.

They arrived at their bedroom, where L found himself being given the silent treatment again, as Light stalked about the room, anger pouring off him in waves.

"Light-kun," L called for the fifth time as the teen tossed off his dirty shirt, his wrist temporarily freed from the cuff. Light continued to ignore him as he looked in the dresser for a fresh shirt.

He sighed, "Light-kun seemed terribly mad."

The younger male spun to face him with a mock look of surprise on his face, "You think?"

"I haven't seen anyone get that furious about having their clothes dirtied."

"That's not what I'm mad about," he grumbled. Light found a black shirt and slammed the door close, pulling it on. He turned to face L, a serious expression on his face, "I'm more pissed off at the fact that you've made me stop working." (Reminder of A, number 3)

"Is catching Kira really that important to you, Light-kun?" L asked, tilting his head.

"Yes," he sighed.

"Important enough to even forgo sleep?" L questioned unrelentingly.

"Yes, Ryuuzaki," Light glared at him.

L was unconvinced, he was well aware the anger was just a cover-up. "Hand," he ordered. Light rolled his eyes and lifted his arm. L slapped the cuffs back onto his wrists.

Light made to leave the room when L tugged on the chain, stopping him.

"What," he spat, casting an irritated glance at the detective who refused to budge.

"Light-kun should rest," L advised, "It is detrimental to his well-being. He would be hindering the investigation if he is underperforming due to lack of sleep."

"Look who's talking," Light scoffed, pulling at the chain uselessly in an attempt to get L to move.

"Something tells me Light-kun isn't that worried about catching Kira," L said, ignoring the jab, "He had not shown that amount of dedication before, so why now?"

"What are you getting at, Ryuuzaki?"

L walked towards Light slowly, staring him straight in the eye, making sure that his gaze is unnerving. He caught a visible sign of panic as Light took a step back.

"The reason is something else," he stated, advancing, "You're avoiding sleep for another reason." (Light notices the choice of word)

"L." He noticed a strain in Light's voice, a warning tone.

He stopped, searching the teen's face for a long moment. The answer is not found.

The silence stretched on as they stared at each other. L's gaze was cold and calculating, a glint of frustration lingers in his narrowed black eyes. Light watched him with wary eyes, giving away nothing.

L sighed, pulling back, "We should be getting back, the others will start to wonder if we take too long."

Light pushed off the wall, shooting him a look before leaving the room, almost dragging L along.

They sat in the workroom, the silence as stifling as before. The others seemed to sense the heavy gloom and fidgeted nervously as they worked.

Light stifled a yawn as he scanned through the reports yet again.

L stared at his screen for a long moment, biting his thumb in annoyance. He was no further to the answer than he was before. He had half a mind to put Light through interrogation and demand the answer from him.

 _But that would be a bit much, wouldn't it?_

L suppressed another sigh, before reaching for the keyboard.

 _This'll have to do, then._

"Bye guys!" Matsuda waved happily as he grabbed his coat.

"Good night, Matsuda-san," L said in his deadpan tone as the last task force member left the room.

He glanced at Light, who is staring blearily at the computer.

"Would Light-kun like to go to bed?"

The teen shook his head and stretched, "I'm fine."

"As you wish," L said, returning his gaze to the screen.

Watari brought in some tea, offering it to them both before taking his leave.

Light took a sip of the drink to wake himself up, blinking at the words before him. L watched him carefully, his own tea untouched.

Five minutes later, he was out cold and sprawled across the desk.

L inched closer to the boy, poking his cheek a few times and nodded in satisfaction.

He won't be getting up anytime soon.

L then realized he would have to carry Light if he wanted to go to bed. He stood thinking for a few moments, before righting Light in his chair and pushing him towards the door easily.

L certainly wasn't a genius for nothing.

* * *

 _Light found himself standing before a busy street in the middle of the day, a huge mass of people walking about in a scramble, all with a destination in mind_ _. He backed away from the disorientating crowd, before spotting the news on the huge screen above._

 _It showed a female newscaster saying something about the police force. His attention was focused at the text rolling across the yellow strip at the bottom of the screen._

 _'Crimes are at_ _a record-breaking zero-percent_ _,' it said._

 _Light stared at it disbelievingly. How is it possible?_

 _"Well, Light?"_

 _He spun around at the familiar voice, surprised to find his lookalike sitting on a bench, smiling at him. He's even wearing the same white jacket that Light had._

 _"What do you think? It's_ _what you want_ _, isn't it?"_

 _Light turned to face the man fully._ _Shadows fell over them as the clouds blocked out the sun. There seemed to be a cold chill in the air as Light stared at the red orbs that are his eyes_ _. Light didn't think that he'll get used to seeing them._

 _"What do you want?" He questioned, "And who the hell are you?"_

 _"What do you mean, Light?" He smirked knowingly, "I already said this,_ _I am you_ _."_

 _Light folded his arms, "You are not, unless I'm crazy."_

 _He laughed and brushed that off as a joke, his smile faded as he stated, "_ _I want to help you, Light_ _."_

 _Light_ _hated the way his name was spoken with such familiarity_ _, as if they were friends._

 _"I don't need help," he grumbled._

 _"You do," the man insisted, standing up and walked towards the bustling crowd that had not noticed them._

 _He stood between Light and the mass of people,_ _turning to face him with his arms outstretched, his open palms facing the heavens_ _. "Isn't it your desire to create this world? A world without crime?"_

 _A world without crime? What's he getting at?_

 _"That's impossible," Light said, "It's only an ideal concept,_ _it's useless to try and achieve it_ _."_

 _He nodded, brushing non-existent dirt off his clothes like_ _Light sometimes found himself doing_ _, "What if it were achievable?"_

 _Light stared at him, "How?"_

 _"Rid the world of evil, Light," the man smirked as Light gaped at him, "And what easier way to do than to kill those who are evil themselves?"_

 _"_ _Kill them_ _?" Light questioned, before it dawned on him_ _, "You don't mean…"_

 _"It appears that you have figured it out," the man, no, Kira smiled._

 _Light stepped away from him, realising just how vile the thing in front of him is, "Why? Why kill them?"_

 _And why does_ _it_ _look like him?_

 _"_ _They deserve to die_ _, Light," he explained, "_ _Innocent people, those who did no wrong are never safe from their hands as long as they live. Those low-lives, those criminals, they ruin the lives of those who did no wrong, yet they get away with it."_

 _Kira cast a solemn gaze on him,_ _"The justice system in this world is null. It needs to be rectified, it needs to be absolute. We cannot let them get away with their crimes."_

 _"_ _They need to be punished_ _," he growled as his gaze hardened._

 _Light was appalled at his thinking_ _._

 _He was silent for a long moment before he asked, "Is it really necessary?"_

 _Red fire danced in Kira's eyes, his words were thick with power,_ _"They do not deserve to go free, they need to be removed."_

 _Kira turned to the large screen broadcasting the news, "This perfect world, free of filth and crime might be difficult to attain unless we_ _work together_ _."_

 _He turned, flashing_ _an_ _almost_ _-friendly smile_ _at Light, "So what do you say?"_

 _Light turned to_ _look at the unassuming crowd, minding their own business, all having their own thing to do. Free from hate and crime, the perfect world that he had dreamt about._

 _All he had to do is to kill the sinners and there it is, right before him._

 _"We can achieve this together," the_ _words slithered into his ear_ _._

 _Light faced Kira, who_ _extended a hand towards him_ _, still smiling._

 _"Join me, Light."_


	6. Friends

It was another late night at the Task Force building.

Light and L sat alone in the darkened room, there was no other noise other than the typing on their keyboard and the occasional tinkle of tea being stirred. The clock on the far wall showed 1:14am, everyone else had gone home.

L stirred his tea with a lollipop, studying the information he had gained from the men who could very well be suspects. He placed the candy on the saucer and took a long sip of the overly-sweetened tea, eyes unblinkingly staring at the screen.

Recently, Light had uncovered suspicious evidence surrounding the Yotsuba Corporation, where their shares had been rising at an unnaturally rapid rate, while the other companies' are plummeting.

They then linked it to the deaths of three leading businessmen who all died of a heart attack.

Among that, there are also about a dozen deaths that contributed to the Yotsuba's rise, which led L and Light to conclude that Kira can kill in more ways than just a heart attack.

Right now, they are in the middle of investigating the executive members of the Yotsuba Group.

He shifted in his chair, making it creak under his weight and the odd posture that he's seated in, he sensed a pair of brown eyes set upon him again.

L vaguely wondered which of them did more staring, him or Light?

"What is it, Light-kun?" He turned, looking straight into startled brown eyes.

Light cleared his throat and asked, "Right, um, you still have evidence from before I was in confinement, right?"

"Yes, I have it."

"How come I don't have access to it?" Light questioned, seemingly perturbed about that fact.

L glanced over and sure enough, Light had his window open to the documents but was unable to open it. These files are locked with a high-security software, in case anyone tries to hack into it.

He leaned back into his seat and said, "Because I say so."

"Then can I take a look at them?" Light asked, his expression starting to sour.

"Why would Light-kun want to look into them?" L asked in suspicion.

"It may give us some clues about who this new Kira is," Light insisted, displeased now.

"We have already established that this new Kira is different from the First Kira, so there is no need for that," L said in a deadpan voice, "Also, Light-kun is still under suspicion of being the First Kira, I cannot indulge you with that information."

Light glared at him for a long moment and L met that angry gaze calmly.

It was a long moment before Light shifted and uttered in a low voice, "It's not that you can't, but you don't want to."

L said nothing.

The teen turned away from him, grumbling, "Fine, I don't need it anyway."

Light then proceeded to ignore him, as he'd expected.

L left him be and went back to his work.

He'll get over it, eventually.

L had to figure out why he's asking for Kira evidence on himself in the first place.

Perhaps Kira did actually control him after all. It'll probably do no harm in revealing those information, but L can't tell whether it is also part of Kira's plan for him to show Light those.

 _A way for him to regain the power?_

L pondered as he reached for the lollipop and stuck it in his mouth.

That may be a possibility.

 _But how will he do it?_

L stopped twirling the candy around his tongue and looked back down at his screen.

The answer may be lie somewhere in the evidence around Light. He'll just have to look for it.

Without involving Light in it, of course.

* * *

Well, L certainly didn't expect this.

Contrary to what he believed, Light didn't get over it. In fact, L found himself being completely ignored for longer than he is used to.

It's the fourth day and the teen had most determinedly paid no attention to L whatsoever.

 _Seriously?_

Somehow, the teen had managed to not speak a single word to the detective, just because he was refused the information that he wanted.

 _How… petty!_

L crunched down on the cookies aggressively. Crumbs went flying everywhere and landed all over his workspace.

He stared blankly at the mess that he made, considering whether to clean up or leave it the hell alone.

In the end, he grumbled something about grudge bearing, inconsequential idiots and proceeded to wipe the table with tissue papers.

L tossed that into the bin and turned to stare at his most annoying companion ever.

"Light-kun?"

Light didn't respond.

L wondered what difference did he expect to see after the previous fifty-six times of trying to get his attention.

"Can I have my report, please?"

Light didn't answer, didn't even glance at him. He simply stopped working for a moment, before typing something into the computer.

L's computer sounded with a beep. He turned back to it, seeing that he have a new message in his inbox. He opened and saw that it was the report that he had requested.

"Thank you," he said in a low, empty voice.

Light didn't respond to this, either.

L sighed and unhappily chewed on his thumb.

Why the hell must he deal with this kind of behavior? He's the greatest detective in the world, the best! He shouldn't have to be subjected with something completely irrelevant like this!

Again, he wondered why he was so bothered by that.

What makes Light different from the others he gave no shit about?

The irritation momentarily dissipated as L found a new thing to focus on.

Well... he's intelligent, more intelligent that everyone that L had ever met. And L had met a lot of people that one must be privileged to even see in person.

He could be as intelligent as L himself.

L twirled his thumb about his lips as he leaned his head back to stare vacantly at the ceiling as he thought about it more.

Light is not just smart, he's people-smart as well. L had seen him in social situations personally. He didn't just know how to act in various situation, he's rather skillful at manipulation as well.

Although he hadn't done much of that ever since the confinement, which might point to the fact that if Kira had controlled Light as they thought, Light doesn't normally manipulate people but he had the means to do so.

Interesting.

Light was good at games as well. No one else in the world was able to force L in a stalemate in chess before. He didn't expect to lose in Battleship as well. Or Backgammon. Or Poker. Light was pretty much L's equal in this one.

Equal…

No one else was L's equal, except for Yagami Light.

The chair began to tip backwards and L jerked for a bit, regaining his balance as he lowered his gaze to the front.

Light had given him a quick sidelong glance at the sudden action, before turning his attention back to work.

L didn't seem to notice as he returned to his earlier train of thought.

Being with his equal...

It had been exciting, intriguing and annoying in a different way. L was sure as hell he hadn't been this interested in anything like this since the LA murder case, which is saying a lot.

He had never been excited for anything either, other than his first case and candy.

And if he was annoyed, it was because the others are such fools that they weren't able to keep up with L, not because there's someone with the same level of understanding as him and was able to argue with him easily and logically.

So L was bothered at being ignored as if he was nothing but thin air, was because he wanted to be treated and seen as an equal the same way as he saw Light?

So… what does that make Light, then?

A friend… the closest answer that L could've given.

But Watari was also a friend, as well as a guardian and advisor. He didn't have this feeling towards him at all. Watari may not be as clever as he is, but he's wiser and better than L in other ways that didn't include using only the brain. Throughout the years, L had nothing but respect for the man, yet saw no need to be seen as an equal or be as skillful as he was.

It's probably something different.

L glanced at the younger man, as if the answer can be found on his face if he stared long enough.

Frustration was brought back to the surface when Light pointedly ignored him again.

L sighed and went back to his abandoned cookies.

Since when had he ever lost interest in food because of a person?

Light had certainly messed up his world more than he knew.

* * *

A few hours had passed and L found himself staring at Light again.

The teen didn't even twitch.

He seemed to have gotten used to the stares that L knew was quite disturbing. Or he's just really determined not to give L the time of the day.

"Light-kun?"

No response.

L gave a depressed sigh, which didn't go unnoticed by Matsuda, who happened to walk past them.

Matsuda turned to look at him and couldn't help but notice the heavy gloom that surrounded them both.

"What's the matter, Ryuuzaki?" Matsuda asked as he approached the man.

L turned to him slowly, his face as stony as ever, the same expression he always had on his face.

"Nothing, Matsuda-san," he said in his usual deadpan tone.

"Are you sure?" He questioned, "You seemed a bit blue there."

Matsuda didn't notice a slight faltering in Light's typing, which L caught immediately. It resumed at its normal pace after that, as if nothing had changed in that short period of time.

Hmm...

"Perhaps..." L uttered, ideas starting to form in his mind, "Maybe I am slightly... depressed."

Light's typing sped up marginally, even though nothing showed on his face.

"How come?" Matsuda asked curiously, "What happened?"

"It appears I have angered Light-kun again," L stated, "And now he's ignoring me."

"Huh?"

"I think..." L said as he pressed his lower lip thoughtfully, "I may have went too far... that night."

It was said rather ambiguously that it could be mistaken for something else, which was what L predicted would happen as Matsuda's eyes widened almost comically.

Light's typing stopped abruptly, frozen in place as he stared at the screen.

L smirked inwardly as Matsuda took a step back and awkwardly scratched his head.

"Oh... um, wow, I didn't know you guys were in that _kind_ of relationship."

Soichiro twitched, every part of a protective father as he picked up on that particular sentence in an instant.

He spun around the same time Light turned to protest.

"What relationship?!"

"We're not in that kind of relationship!"

Matsuda was stunned into silence as he glanced back and forth at both father and son as they frowned at him.

The others who were working all turned to gape at them.

L found this whole thing utterly hilarious... until Light and Soichiro both turned their livid gaze upon him.

"Explain this!"

"You scumbag!"

"Now, now," L said, trying to calmly get out of this situation, "One at a time, please."

Matsuda slowly inched away from the trio, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

"You're in a relationship with my son?!" Soichiro demanded as he stood up, stalking towards L like he wanted to kill him.

"Yagami-"

"It's a misunderstanding!"

"-san..."

Light was on his feet as well, facing his fuming father.

"How was it be a misunderstanding?" Soichiro demanded, "That's clearly what he meant when he mentioned 'that night'!"

Light blushed unwittingly, "That was not what it meant!"

"Urm..."

"What else could that mean?" His father argued, "Besides, you have been behaving strangely ever since you stayed here with him, Light!"

"What are you talking about?"

L went silent, interested in hearing this.

"Well, firstly," Soichiro seemed to calm a bit as he started listing his concerns, "You fight with him."

"What's so strange about that?" Light questioned, "He gets on my nerves!"

"You never fought with anyone _ever_ , Light," His father said, "Or get angry at every little thing someone else does."

"That just proves the fact that I don't like him," Light growled.

Soichiro frowned, unconvinced, "Then there's the silent treatment."

"That's the best way to deal with Ryuuzaki," Light said, "He keeps taunting me!"

"He's teasing you," He said, folding his arms, "I don't like how chummy he was being."

Light looked genuinely confused as he went silent for a beat.

"What are you talking about?" He asked slowly.

"Are you not seeing past his antics?" Soichiro actually had an incredulous look on his face, "His behaviour is bordering on flirting!"

L cleared his throat, this conversation is crossing dangerous waters. Besides, he would rather them not argue about this in front of others.

Soichiro turned to glare at him immediately, "What?"

"I'm just going to say," L stared at him in all seriousness, "That Light-kun and I are really not in a relationship as you thought, nor am I attempting to flirt with your son."

The older man clearly didn't believe him as he kept glaring. L didn't like the look on his face.

He knew he was capable of defending himself but he wasn't keen on resorting to violence to deal with this situation.

L sighed and added, "You can ask Watari to check the surveillance footage if you wish."

Soichiro didn't relax but he backed down for now.

He left the room in a huff, searching for the man.

When Soichiro had disappeared from sight, L turned to face Light impassively, "We clearly need to talk."

Light glowered at him, "I'm not talking to you, you made my Dad think I'm gay!"

"Wait," Matsuda cut in before L was able to respond, "That means you guys aren't dating?"

L turned to him with the blankest stare he had and uttered in a weary voice, "No, Matsuda-san, we are not dating."

He swore Matsuda actually looked a bit disappointed at that mention, before he added in an equally flat tone, "Now please get back to work."

The bachelor turned and obediently headed towards his desk in silence.

Light was going back to his seat as well until L tugged at the chain, causing him to jerked back by his arm.

"Not you, Light-kun."

The teen turned to shoot him a glare, "What do you want?"

"We are going to talk, Light-kun," L reminded him as if he's some wayward child.

Light fumed at that, of course.

"I don't want to," he snapped, much like a rebellious child.

"I don't think you have much choice in that," L said, as he got off his chair and forcibly dragged Light along with him.

* * *

Light was grumbling and cursing all the way to the roof.

L sighed to himself.

He's such a difficult person.

It was actually quite nice up here, where they can practically see the whole city from here. The sky was beginning to darken and the air is cooling as the sun starts to disappear beyond the horizon.

Light had went silent but he's still as disagreeable as ever, pointedly looking away from the detective.

He walked over towards the edge and leaned over the metal railings, staring out over the skyline in silence as the sun shone on their backs.

L stood next to him as he waited for Light to talk or take some kind of action.

Light didn't do anything, however. He just stood there and gazed over the city, his hair shining golden brown in the dying sun as the wind blew at the silky strands.

"Light-kun?"

The teen didn't respond to the prompt but tilted his head a bit towards L.

Basically, it means L had to start or nothing would be done.

He refrained from giving a heavy sigh as he said, "Sometimes, I find that Light-kun is such a child."

The younger male spun to retort when he added, "However, I am childish as well so I suppose I shouldn't complain."

"What's up with this?" Light demanded as he glared at L cautiously, "Why did you bring me all the way up here just to talk?"

L smiled thinly as he answered, "I thought that perhaps it would be easier for you to speak your mind if there's no outside interference."

"Okay."

"There won't be anyone watching as well," L continued, "There are no cameras installed up here."

Light nodded at that, unsure of where L is going with this.

"To answer your question, Light-kun," L said, "That is because I liked speaking with you."

Light was silent as he let L continue, listening to his words in surprise, "I came to that conclusion because I found Light-kun's abilities to be admirable and interacting with you had been enjoyable even though it was sometimes maddening."

L smiled slightly as he went on, "No one else was able to make me enjoy their company as much as Light-kun did, which is why I wanted Light-kun to talk to me."

Light stared as if he had never seen the man before as he uttered, "So... you're simply saying you liked me as a friend?"

L was slightly miffed that Light found that baffling and had to have him reiterate that, "Yes, Light-kun, I do like you as a friend."

Light went silent again as he let that sink in, L could see him working out what to say to that.

The sun's final rays cascaded upon them when Light began, "I suppose I do too, even though you are annoying as hell and I had to put up with all your tricks and quirks."

"Oh, you meant my 'teasing'?" L said playfully.

Light flashed an irritated yet amused glance at him, "Yes, your stupid 'teasings'. I actually didn't know you were just playing, because of how socially-crippled L is supposed to be."

"I admit I simply did that because I enjoy getting a rise out of you," L said, "Light-kun is amusing when provoked."

"Yes, very funny," Light said sarcastically.

He then looked as if a thought had occurred to him as he turned to look at L suspiciously, "You weren't trying to flirt with me as my Dad said, were you?"

"I wasn't," L said truthfully, "I did not have any intention of that nature."

"I see."

L had a thoughtful look on his face as he uttered, "Actually, now that you've mentioned it..."

"What?"

"Maybe," L nodded as he mused, "That actually didn't sound like a bad idea."

A look of horror crossed Light's face and L couldn't suppress a chuckle.

His eyes narrowed at that as he muttered, "You idiotic cake fiend."

"That is a weak accusation," L countered, "I am certainly far from being an idiot and I consume a lot of other foods other than cake."

"Fine," Light snapped, "You exceptionally intelligent sugar fiend!"

L laughed so heartily that Light had to smile.

They both stared out over the city in content silence as the sky finally turned a dark shade of purple as the weakening sun strained to cast its light still.

L still found no answer to his lingering questions, but this short break had been rather nice.

He really enjoyed Light's company. He really did.

* * *

 **A/N: The misunderstanding there (lol), it was so stupid but I had to do it. XD**

 **The question remains though, what happened in that last chapter? It will be answered next chapter! (I'm so sorry, I had to do it. Please don't kill me!)**


	7. Secrets

_It was dark._

 _There was nothing but blackness surrounding him, enveloping him in darkness._

 _"I will punish all evil-doers!"_

 _A voice echoed dimly in the space, sounding like it was coming from the distance._

 _Who was that?_

 _Light didn't get an answer, it didn't seem to hear him as it rambled on angrily about justice and criminals and things of that sort._

 _It was nothing but him, the blank space and the voice that seemed familiar._

 _However, he wasn't sure who it belonged to._

 _"Hello?" He called out, shaken that he wasn't able to see anything but the darkness surrounding him._

 _"I despise it, not being in control." the voice continued to ignore him, getting increasingly louder by the second, like it's approaching him._

 _"Who are you?" Light questioned, trying to move only to find that he was unable to._

 _"This body that imprisons me," A chuckle slipped into the dark space, the voice growing thicker and harsher as it spoke. "Soon it will become mine."_

 _Light found that he didn't like the voice, not at all._

 _He struggled to move, as the unseen being kept coming closer and closer._

 _"Who are you?" He demanded, "What are you talking about?"_

 _The voice went silent._

 _Light could now feel a heavy presence before him, sensing a dark smile on its face. He now wished that he didn't draw attention to himself, but knew that whatever this thing was approaching him anyway._

 _"This body will be mine," it said, chuckling. "Very soon."_

 _A deranged laughter broke out, reverberating all around him._

 _"It becomes mine!" The voice exploded right next to him, ending with a vicious inhuman snarl._

* * *

 _Light snapped out of it and started as he found himself standing in front of the mirror, dazedly staring into it._

 _It took him a moment to realize that he's in the bathroom back at his house, looking like he's about to get ready for the day. He still wore a long-sleeved shirt and his pajama bottoms, his hair a little messed up from sleep._

 _What?_

 _He hadn't had a single idea of how he got here, or where here is exactly. It just happened, like he was suddenly thrown into this space for some reason._

 _Light blinked at his reflection and found that for some strange reason, he couldn't form a single coherent thought in his mind. His reflection stared back at him, wide-eyed, the confusion showing on his face._

 _Everything felt blurry, there's a floating sensation in his brain even though he's clearly standing._

 _It felt unreal, like he was in a dream._

 _Light tried to think, his eyes scanning over his immediate surroundings in an effort to form some sort of thought in his head._

 _Nothing had looked out of place. The toothbrushes are neatly slotted in their places by the sink, the tube of toothpaste, mug all right where they should be. The tap was leaking a little, water dripping slowly into the sink._

 _Drip, drip, drip._

 _Light felt that he should be somewhere else right now, instead of back at his home._

 _He had the nagging feeling that he hadn't been home for a while now and he shouldn't be. Yet he can't remember exactly where or why that was the case._

 _He searched his brain for the answers but yielded nothing, leaving him frustrated at the lack of information._

 _He frowned, his image following his action perfectly as if that might get him something._

 _That did nothing, of course._

 _The next course of action that came to mind was to walk out and ask his family about it. They should know._

 _Yeah, that would be the best thing to do now._

 _Light was satisfied that he was able to plan that much, given his state of mind._

 _He started to turn and exit the bathroom when there was a sudden 'tap' in front of him._

 _Light paused, head turning towards the source of the noise._

 _The mirror?_

 _Puzzled, Light stared at it, looking for what could possibly cause the noise._

 _Or maybe he's just hearing things._

 _Light didn't notice it immediately, but the longer he stared at it, he slowly noticed that there was something strange going on with his image._

 _It was a sinking anxiety in his gut at first, as he began to notice why._

 _His reflection is now smiling at him, its eyes and hair a vibrant shade of red._

 _Light's confused brain had thought it himself at first but now he saw that it didn't look like him._

 _He didn't think he'd seen the thing before, yet its face felt familiar, like something he once knew but have forgotten._

 _Maybe because it looks like him?_

 _However…_

 _Why are its eyes red?_

 _Why is the thing that's supposed to be him look so evil?_

 _Its smile had looked friendly enough. Something tells him that wasn't the case at all._

 _"Well, Light?"_

 _It spoke. Light gaped at it, his brain numb._

 _He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head to try and clear his mind before opening them and regarding his reflection again._

 _His reflection looked amused at that action, as it spoke again in a gentle, coaxing voice._

 _"Don't you want it, Light?"_

 _Want what?_

 _Its smile spread even wider at the open confusion on his face._

 _"Your world, Light," it almost cooed, "Don't you remember?"_

 _That had rang a bell, so it must've been talked about at some point. Light can't really recall how it had went, however._

 _"You can have it, Light," it said softly, patiently, "All you have to do is to work with me and it shall be done."_

 _His reflection started to extend its hand to him._

 _Light gaped in both horror and disbelief as the pale hand passed through the solid surface, causing ripples to flow through the mirror as if it was made out of water._

 _Confusion churned in his mind as he tried to process what he's seeing and failing epically._

 _It's impossible, right?_

 _Its hand was right in front of him, solid and waiting._

 _"Accept my offer," it said, looking straight at Light with a patient smile on its face, "And it will belong to you, the perfect world."_

 _Where had he heard that from before?_

 _Light continued to stare at the hand._

 _Strangely, he felt compelled to take the hand of whatever creature this is and do everything that it wished of him. Anything._

 _Why?_

 _Light hesitated at that question, appalled at his thinking._

 _Why would he want to do that?_

 _He was sure he wasn't one to do that._

 _Another second passed and Light saw darkness flash past its eyes. He watched as the smile became strained as it spoke again in a lower, annoyed voice._

 _"Just give in."_

 _Light snapped out of it at that tone that spoke the three words. He took a step away from that thing, knowing that it is trying to make him submit, somehow. He didn't think he'd want that._

 _His reflection saw that and its expression had changed instantaneously, lips curling back in resentment, eyes narrowing into angry slits._

 _It pulled its hand back into the mirror, before trying to charge at Light with a snarl, fists slamming into the mirror only to find that the surface was solid like it should be._

 _Its eyes widened, darting about as it found itself confined inside the mirror, no longer able to escape beyond it._

 _It slowly lowered its head so it can stare at Light, its eyes glowed bright red as they narrowed, face contorted in malice, lips curled back, baring its teeth._

 _It opened its mouth and wailed in unrestrained rage, the scream piercing Light's ears as it pounded at the glass, glaring at him with its unnerving eyes._

 _Light was frozen in fear, having backed up against the walls and watching in pure terror as kept screaming, the horrible cry getting louder as it continuously struck the glass with its fists, adding to the noise with a heart-stopping thump-thump-thump._

 _Cracks began to appear on the surface, the noise of breaking glass filled his ears. The cracks grew even bigger with each strike, small shards of glass began to fall onto the sink._

 _It's going to get him._

 _Light regained his senses, the fear that had caused him to stay still now propelled him to get the hell out of here, as far away from this thing as possible._

 _Light bolted for the door just as an ear-splitting crash sounded, the mirror finally broken and falling to the floor in pieces._

 _He barely made it out into the hallway when he was tackled from the back, the force causing him to fall over and knocking the breath out of his lungs._

 _It got him._

 _Light tried to fight it but something heavy settled on his back and he struggled, screaming._

 _He felt cold fingers grasping onto his hair and abruptly slammed his face into the floor. Light faltered, the force jolted his brain and caused his body to go limp for a moment._

 _Light cried out as his head was pulled up suddenly, his scalp burning as the fingers tugged mercilessly at his hair._

 _"Just give in," it hissed into his ear._

 _He felt a hard shove towards his head and shut his eyes just before his face meets the dark wooden floor._

* * *

Light awoke with a start, sitting up with a gasp, eyes wide with terror.

He stared into the dark room, trying to figure out where he is, hearing frantic breaths that he discovered was his own.

He slowly calmed down as he realized he was in the bed, in the Taskforce building and all that happened earlier was just a dream.

It's just a dream.

Light took a deep breath, glancing at the clock to find that it is three in the morning.

Woken by a nightmare, _again_.

Light turned, expecting to find L staring at him and confronting him about his nightmares like he always does.

Instead, he found L lying on the bed, facing away from him.

It took him a moment to grasp that L is actually sleeping.

That was pretty rare to see, actually.

Apparently that was more amazing than the fact he was able to balance on chairs with his strange posture without falling even once.

Light took a long look at the other man, trying to come to terms with this discovery.

L was curled up on his side, back facing him, his breathing low and even.

Light listened to that and calmed even more, before going over the foggy remnants of his dream, trying to remember why it had been so frightening.

He recalled hearing breaking glass and he was being chased by something or someone?

He felt like he should know who that was, but can't remember anything useful about that.

Light didn't like how his dreams were always unclear these days, especially those that Kira had appeared in and tried to convince him to work for the perfect world.

He had wanted that, yes.

But he didn't like the way Kira wanted to do it. There was no need to kill criminals, he said. Kira didn't seemed too pleased about that but tried time and time again to try and change his mind.

The longer he dreamt, the more muddled he felt even though that hasn't happened before.

It was like something is trying to control him.

Light shook the chilling realization from his mind, suppressing a shudder at the horrible prospect of having his actions directed by something else.

The crash of shattering glass resonated in his ears.

Light gasped, unable to suppress a shudder this time, causing L to stir.

Light turned to him sharply, expecting him to wake.

He didn't.

L just mumbled something inaudible, flipped over in Light's direction and went back to sleep.

Light let out a soft breath he didn't know he was holding. He didn't think he would be able to deal with L's grilling if he were to wake. There's only so much he could take in one day.

Light took this opportunity studied his face closely, noting that it's as blank as always. He did note that he looked more at peace than usual, with his face no longer a mask.

Apparently his thumb behaviour must've been compulsive, it was resting on his lower lip even in his sleep.

It almost looked like he's sucking his thumb.

Light couldn't help but smile at that adorable sight.

 _Wait, what?_

Light's smile faltered, going over what his brain had decided to say.

 _That was adorable?_

Light shook his head, it was probably from the lack of proper sleep that his brain had came up with that strange thought.

Yeah, that must be it.

Clearly being sleep-deprived isn't good for him.

Light sighed and lay back down, trying to get some more sleep before the day starts, ignoring that random thought that came out of nowhere.

L certainly wasn't adorable, he's a freak of nature damn it.

Light glanced at L's sleeping face to confirm that.

 _Yep, definitely not adorable._

Light's eyelids began to droop as sleep claimed him once again, repeating that to himself.

Not adorable at all…

 _Quite attractive, actually._

Light completely drifted off before he could catch what his brain was thinking.

* * *

It was another dull day of work, purely information gathering and profiling on each of the Yotsuba suspects.

There wasn't much that they could find. The clues will eventually come in time, L mentioned.

So the two geniuses decided to play another game that night, just to stave off the boredom for the time being, as they usually do.

They sat across each other in the workroom, the coffee table between them with a deck of cards stacked neatly on top.

"Poker?" L suggested, blandly staring at the other.

"We play that all the time," Light said as he shook his head, before suggesting, "How about 21?"

L played idly with his lower lip, "I believe it is called Blackjack."

"It's called 21," Light argued irritably.

"Blackjack," L insisted.

"Look, 21 is the correct name, it's been around longer, it's straightforward. The game's goal is to get 21 points, hence the name." Light grumbled, "Why the hell was it even called Blackjack anyway?"

L appear to ponder that for a moment, before answering, "I believe it was referring to the bonus payouts they used to get, if a black jack was dealt with an ace of spades."

"There isn't really that much of it anymore," Light said, grabbing the cards in a huff, "Besides, 21 is a more common name so just deal with it."

L stared at the table unhappily, "I'm still calling it Blackjack, it sounds better."

Light rolled his eyes as he shuffled the cards, "Whatever."

"Who made you the dealer anyway?" L glared at him.

"I did," Light said as he distributed four cards amongst themselves, "Since a certain someone refuse to handle them properly like a normal human being."

L ignored that jab, silently pouting as he took a look at his cards.

Light tried to ignore the word that sounded suspiciously like 'cute' that kept appearing in his mind.

 _What's up with that?_

* * *

They went through three rounds of the game, with Light winning the first two and L the third.

It was fairly simple, with a bit of thinking and luck involved that proved to be entertaining to two intelligent people who loved a challenge – only for about five minutes.

Light took a third card from the pile, peering at it before throwing them onto the table with a sigh, "Bust."

"Perhaps we should play another game," L suggested quietly as he placed his cards back onto the table.

"This gets old too quickly," Light said in disappointment, gathering the cards, the chain jingling with the movement.

He then paused for a second as a smile crept onto his face, like he'd just came up with the best thing ever.

"What is it, Light-kun?"

"How about this?" Light said, grinning, "The winner of each round gets to ask the loser a question about themselves. They must answer all the questions truthfully with no exceptions."

L stared at him blankly, giving no indication to what he thought about the idea as he pressed on his lips.

"Interesting," he commented, "That certainly gives us a lot of incentives to win."

Light smiled in triumph.

Yes, this will be a chance to get some blackmail material on the Great L. Light tried not to break into a smirk as the delicious thought went through his mind.

 _This is going to be great!_

"However, there will be exceptions," L droned on, "There are some questions that endangers my identity, Light-kun will not ask them and I will not answer them."

Light's smile melted slightly.

Well, that ruined part of the fun.

"How the hell would I know what not to ask?" Light demanded, folding his arms and leaning back in the couch, "Everything about you seemed to be a threat to your identity, that's a rubbish rule!"

"Do not worry," L said quickly, sensing a tantrum about to present itself, "If I cannot answer a question, I will let Light-kun ask another. I promise I will answer to the best of my ability."

That seemed to pacify him, just a bit.

"Fine," he snapped, unfolding his arms and sitting up, "Who's dealing?"

"Whoever draws the bigger card gets to deal," L said, promptly picking one from the deck.

Light pulled another and ended up being the dealer for that round.

* * *

He won with a ten of hearts and a queen, totaling his points at twenty while L was one point short.

L silently set his cards back onto the table, fidgeting with his jeans and reluctantly waiting for the question he have to answer.

Light was smiling broadly at his victory at first, then realized all the questions he was dying to ask are probably going to be passed up by the detective.

 _Now what?_

He agonized over it for a moment, before asking, "Do you always think in percentages, L?"

L stared at him for a moment, not expecting the first question to be this simple and uttered, "No, I do not think in percentages. The reason I mostly speak like this was because people tend to want solid estimations. I find that they are easier to deal with if I give them that."

L gathered the cards, now his turn to deal, "Truthfully, I don't really like percentages that much."

Light took a mental note of that, though it probably isn't going to be useful anyway.

* * *

Light won the second round with a perfect 21 points, where L automatically loses.

The detective pouted as he dropped his cards onto the table, as Light smirked maddeningly at him for winning twice in a row.

"Why do you sit like this?"

"Like what?" L asked in a deadpan, determined not to make it easy for his opponent.

"Like what you're doing now," Light said, beginning to feel annoyed.

"I always sit like this, so I don't know what Light-kun is talking about."

"Just answer the god damn question," Light grumbled, trying not to let his irritation show.

L smiled thinly, taking this as a small victory for himself as he thought about the question.

"I suppose it's due to habit," L said after a long pause, "I've been sitting like this for a long time, it was mentioned that it may be associated with a defensive position."

L fiddled with his lip, wondering whether he should disclose the next piece of information.

"Perhaps… it was against the potential danger I will face in this line, or against my own emotions, hence the 40% thinking capacity."

Light found himself staring at L in disbelief.

"Light-kun?"

The younger man jumped, then looked away quickly, lowering his gaze, "Right, it's my turn."

He busied himself with the cards, the faint amazement lingering in his head that L had given away such personal details about himself.

Perhaps this would be the only time L would let him ask.

Light could not be happy enough that he was able to take advantage of that.

* * *

L had won the next round, luck shifting over to his side as Light exceeded the points.

He twirled the spoon around his ice cream that Watari had brought in at some point while Light impatiently and anxiously waited for his question.

"Light-kun lies."

"Excuse me?" The comment caught him off-guard as he'd been expecting a question and not a stated fact that bordered on being an attack.

"You know what I am talking about," L said monotonously, lifting his head to look straight at him, "My question would be 'Why?'"

Light's fists clenched and unclenched, before he set them on his knees, open palmed.

There was an agreement, 'no lies' and Light is already finding it difficult at his first question.

That wouldn't be fair, L had played by his terms and given him what he had wanted, even giving away crucial information that almost nobody knew.

Light could only be obligated to do the same.

He opened his mouth to speak when L interrupted him, "Light-kun do not need to answer if you don't feel comfortable with it."

Light gaped at him once again.

 _Since when have he ever been considerate?_

He averted his gaze, "I… that's not it. I just…"

Light let out a huff, before continuing in a more controlled voice, "The reason that I lie is because-"

He let out a sharp laugh, as he thought the next sentence sounded incredibly ridiculous for Light freaking Yagami, "I don't truly fit in, anywhere."

L was silent as he let Light continue in a smaller but level voice.

"It was for acceptance."

Light was grateful that L's expression didn't change even though this must be at least a bit of a surprise to hear.

He just lowered his gaze to the table and muttered, "I see."

* * *

They started the next round in silence, eager to uncover more but cautious in the steps they might take.

The moment felt like it would be ruined if they rushed into it too quickly, like they usually do with uncovering secrets.

Light's mind was in a mad rush, his heart hammering away in his chest, subtle signs of panic seized his body but not showing on his face.

That question had hit much too close to home, one that he kept hidden from others since forever, bared and shown to the detective easily today.

He felt exposed, vulnerable.

It wasn't supposed to be good for him.

Yet, he wanted more.

Light realized that he wanted L to see him as he truly is, when no one else had ever done, not even his own family.

It was a truly delicate moment for him.

He wasn't sure about L, though.

Hopefully he isn't the only one feeling this way.

"What makes you 'L'?" Light asked, having won this time round, still nervous from when he had given up the truth of his own accord, "What has given you all the quirks and eccentricities?"

L smiled silently, earning a curious stare from him.

"That was perhaps the first time Light-kun had referred to my strangeness in such a nice way."

"I have always been nice," Light asserted.

"Oh really."

"Shut it."

L suppressed a chuckle and instead uttered, "My weirdness, huh."

He pressed a thumb to his lips as he looked at the ceiling.

"I suppose that must've come from my years of isolation," he said, "This profession had began for me while I was still a child, I was expected to deliver results and I did."

Light listened closely as he continued, "As a result, case after case was referred to me. Because of that, I did not have time outside of work, my chances of interacting normally with people were close to none, giving you the L today."

That sounds… _lonely_.

L didn't miss the solemn look that came upon the other's face but made no mention of it.

There's more to come.

Also, Light hadn't answered enough yet.

* * *

L won the next round.

He asked Light about his fears, which he answered as truthfully as he can.

"Loss of control, mostly."

"So Light-kun loves control," L mused, "That sounds quite suspiciously like something Kira would be concerned about."

Light's brown eyes narrowed in a glare, the flash of anger apparent on his face.

" _I'm not Kira_ ," he growled.

Though what he had said had been the same, L detected a difference in his reaction.

Most times when Light shows anger, he would lash out in a loud and dramatic way, glaring at him as he did.

It seems Light is truly infuriated about being compared to Kira, previous times he had simply snapped and reacted violently, instead of simply remaining where he was and said it in such a manner.

It was a much more intense anger than before, dark and brooding and powerful that the detective was slightly taken aback.

L couldn't help but think _what had changed?_

Light seemed to feel himself being watched and scrutinized as he came back to himself.

He slowly calmed, his face no longer possessed lethal rage, though L could still see traces of it remaining in his darkening eyes.

The silence dragged on.

L lowered his gaze and muttered, "Let's continue."

Only sounds of shuffling cards disturbed the air as they resumed their game.

"I'm sorry," Light uttered suddenly as L reached out to pick a card.

He paused, his hand hanging in the air as he looked up.

Light had pulled his defenses up again, his expression giving nothing away except for a strange sort of calmness.

Seeing that, L had nothing to else to say except for, "It's quite alright, Light-kun."

He didn't feel like saying anything else.

* * *

The stifling atmosphere had somewhat returned to normal, both men had remained playing for almost two hours now, cautiously prying into each other's secrets and giving them away.

Light had seemed slightly more relaxed since the beginning of the game, as he seemed to learn how to trust L with his truths for the first time.

Just slightly.

He almost looked pale every time L asked about himself which he kept close to his own.

L didn't fare any better himself, though he doubt Light could see that as he was incredibly excellent at keeping a poker face.

He still wanted to play poker, though this game had been intriguing so far.

"I am curious," L said as he spoke around the spoon, "What is your perspective of the world, Light-kun?"

He could see the teen stiffening up slightly, before relaxing consciously and leaning back in the couch.

L could only deduce that it had something to do with Kira, that Light suspected that L had taken the opportunity to throw in some questionings relating to the case.

L allowed him a few more seconds, his eyes not leaving Light's face, openly studying him.

Light sighed, before muttering, "I think the world is… rotten."

L tilted his head, "Why would you think that?"

"Well," Light crossed his arms under L's scrutinizing stare, "I feel like society is deteriorating, even before Kira had appeared. Even though there are claims that justice and law are in place, corruption and incompetence have allowed criminals to walk free instead of being punished like they were supposed to."

"Now that Kira has appeared, people are supporting him because of the flaw that existed in the first place, glorifying a murderer instead of seeing him in the wrong,"

"There's nothing wrong in trying to uphold justice as he claims, but killing is just…" Light shook his head, "They don't even see anything wrong with what he did, it's sickening."

There was a long silence after that, where Light felt the weight of L's stare on him, seeming to judge his words.

 _What if I said too much?_

Light tried not to fidget.

There is a high chance that L would say that he's trying to trick L into thinking that he wasn't Kira and increase his suspicion even more.

He really didn't want that.

Light glanced over, waiting for him to speak.

It took a while before L opened his mouth, "I believe Light-kun is saying it this way because he thought the world owed him."

Light stared at him, then lowered his gaze as if ashamed.

Seeing this and taking the previous answers into account, all L could think is that, 'That's not Kira.'

L shifted in his seat and muttered, "I was this way as well, a while ago."

He could see that Light was surprised as he raised his head and gaped at him.

"What I do, Light, was solving difficult cases and putting criminals behind bars," L started, "It was a strong sense of accomplishment for my younger self, as I felt that I was helping the world bit by bit by removing the threats and making it a better place for the innocent to live in."

"I couldn't be more wrong."

L started nibbling on his thumbnail as he continued, "That time, I had only been involved in solving crimes and capturing crooks. It wasn't up to me to decide whether they shall remain captured as they deserved. My naivety didn't make me realize that the officials could be corrupt, letting the criminals go free or lightening their sentences when I wasn't watching. By the time I realized, I have to catch them all over again and ensure that I see their punishment through to the end."

"I was furious and I lost faith in the system that I had thought highly of," L said, reaching for the tea he had left on the table, "Even in the smaller cases that I was not involved in, I see a lot of this going on. It was the only thing that I have been passionate in and yet the world ruined it for me, leading me to become jaded and uninterested in anything else but righting this."

L was absorbed in his own thoughts until he was startled out of it by a warm touch on his hand.

He caught Light's stunned face like he just realized what he did.

Light snatched his hand back and hurriedly looked away, muttering, "Sorry."

L didn't miss the faint blush across his cheek.

He glanced to the clock on the far wall and said, "It is late, we should be heading to bed now."

Light turned back to him as he started putting away the cards.

While they entered the elevator, he commented, "Is it just me or L felt awkward enough that he had to stop?"

L turned to him with an innocent look on his face, "What is Light-kun talking about?"

"Eleven has never been too late for you."

"That's true."

There was a look of shock on Light's face as he realized what the social recluse is implying.

L turned away before he could see a distinct smirk forming on his face.

They just arrived at their floor when Light's hand shot out to grasp his own.

"Light-kun?" He jerked as he felt a caressing touch grace his skin.

L's head snapped towards him, wide-eyed.

Light drank in the look on his face, before chuckling softly and letting it go.

"Don't take it too seriously," Light muttered in a lilted tone as he started to walk past L, "I was just testing you."

The detective regained his senses just before the chain begin to drag him along.

Perhaps he had said too much.

L had never seen innocence look so… evil.

Well, he can't say that he didn't like it.

* * *

 **A/N: It has been a while since I uploaded, hasn't it? o-o**

 **I must apologize for the delay, as I have been pretty busy (legitimate busy plus lazy busy :P)**

 **Whatever the case, thanks for all the reviews and support while I work on this, love ya guys! :D**


	8. Fear

They were both in the living room of Light's home, sitting across each other in the couches as if Kira had merely came for a visit.

Light knew that it wasn't real, of course, that this was all just a dream that Kira conjured up as he'd did the previous times.

Like in all his dreams, his family wasn't present.

And in all of them, Kira is always trying to persuade him to see his side of the story.

Light had always stood firm by his decisions and he wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon.

He could see Kira's red eyes glittering, reflecting the dull glow of the lights as he spoke.

"You don't understand, Light," he said, "We are one and the same, you and I are supposed to be working together."

Light shook his head, "I am aware of that, Kira. But no matter how much you ask, my answer will always be no."

Kira was silent.

"I'm sorry but I cannot do what you ask."

"That's your final answer?"

He actually looked hurt. Kira's expression made it hard for Light to say his next words.

He did it anyway, since if Kira is similar to him as he had mentioned, Light would know that he is trying to guilt Light into agreeing with him.

And he knew that no one was better at manipulation than Light is.

"Yes," Light answered calmly, his arms crossed, "I refuse to resort to your method. It is wrong."

Kira went silent once again, his head bowed.

Light was about to speak when a sudden chuckle bubbled from the man in front of him.

He stared as Kira's shoulders began to shake even more, his laughter grew ever louder.

Light admittedly started to felt creeped out as he did not stop, his cackles echoing around the room.

"What's so funny?" Light finally snapped, glaring at him.

Kira's laughter died down. He raised his head slightly, allowing Light to peek through his bangs, showing a pair of glowing eyes.

Light went silent, not liking the murderous intent he could see from those eyes.

Kira slowly raised his head to face Light, "Light."

A snicker slipped out of him as he said again, covering his face with a hand, "Light."

Light eyed him warily as he started chanting his name in an amused manner, having seemed to have gone mad.

"Light, Light, Light."

Kira started shaking his head, "Light, oh, Light, you don't get it, do you?"

Light said nothing as he watched.

"My patience had worn thin, you see," Kira said as he lowered his hand, "I'd say I'm tired of this."

His ruby eyes glowed as he spoke lowly, "I'm tired of you, Light."

Light stood up stiffly, sensing imminent danger from the other man, "I believe our discussion have ended."

He headed for the door with a single-minded determination.

Kira smirked, "I think not, Light."

Light ignored him and reached out.

It disappeared right in front of his eyes as he grasped the doorknob, letting out a startled gasp as his hand closed around nothing.

Light took a step back, staring in disbelief at the blank piece of wall, where the front door is supposed to be.

He glanced at Kira who remained sitting on the couch, a triumphant smirk drawn on his face.

Light glared at him for that, before swiftly making his way to the glass doors leading to the backyard.

There was a cackle behind him as the doors vanished just as Light placed his hand on them.

He could only gape at the empty wall, his eyes filling with apprehension.

He turned and started, backing away into the wall as Kira stood right in front of him, their faces mere inches apart.

Before he could react, Kira's pale hand shot out and grabbed onto his neck, squeezing it with a malicious look on his face.

Light gasped, his hands flying up to clutch at it, trying in vain to pry the cold hand away from his throat.

He choked as Kira's grip tightened, his narrowed vermillion eyes boring into his wide, fearful ones.

"You should know this, Light," Kira smiled, openly enjoying the agony on his face, "I can be very patient if I want to."

"However, even that has its limits," Kira hissed, his hot breath rolling against his face.

He was suddenly lifted off the wall and thrown across the room, crying out in pain and surprise as he hit the hard floor, the air rushing out of his lungs, leaving him dazed and breathless.

Light scrambled to get up but he was pinned down by the other man, who hit him once in the head and again proceeded to close his hands around his throat.

"You won't like me when I lose my patience, Light," Kira said in a lilted tone, smirking down at him, "Oh no, you won't."

Light wheezed and clawed frantically at his hands, his head starting to spin.

"I have been rather nice to you, Light," Kira continued gleefully, "Yet you rejected my kindness."

Kira stared right into his eyes, enjoying the dark anguish welling within their depths, "You brought this upon yourself."

His head snapped back when Light managed to land a hard punch to his face.

His unforgiving hands loosened momentarily, allowing Light the opportunity to throw Kira off his body and quickly scramble onto his feet.

Kira got up just in time to see Light stumble through the window and escaping into the darkness beyond.

He growled under his breath as he watched his prey get away.

"You can run, Light," he snarled as he leisurely made his way to the window, watching his figure dash out of the tiny front yard and onto the dimly-lit path, "You can hide."

A slow smirk spread across his face as Light rounded a corner and disappeared.

"But you can _never_ escape me."

* * *

Light sprinted through the dark streets without any aim in mind but to get away from the maniac that attacked him in his own home.

He had no idea when and how he had ended up in a forest when he stopped to catch his breath.

Light looked around in confusion, before remembering this is a dream and that they don't make sense, not even when it's one that seemed to be caused by Kira.

It was considerably darker in the woods, the silhouette of trees almost black against the sky.

Dim moonlight that shone through the canopies above only managed to help his sight slightly.

He looked about until he found a trail, almost hidden beneath the undergrowth.

He had no idea where he was, so he decided to follow the trail in hopes of getting out of this place.

* * *

Apparently that was a bad idea.

The longer he walked along the path, the denser the forest seemed to become. The dark trees grew closer to one another and the undergrowth were much thicker, the dirt path almost gone from sight.

Also, there's this nagging feeling that tells Light that there's nothing right with this forest.

He couldn't discern the reason why it made him feel creeped out.

Maybe it was because he kept walking deeper into the forest, the darker it seemed to become.

A sudden cold gripped his body and he shivered.

That was when he realized just what the problem is.

There's no noises at all.

Dead silence permeated the woods.

There were no other sounds other than Light's breathing as he stopped.

Light hadn't been in many places like this but he knew that it wasn't supposed to be as quiet as this.

Usually, there are supposed to be noises, right?

Forests are supposed to be noisier at night, filled with the sounds of animals that are more active at night, some rustling as they moved about, calling out to one another.

There was nothing of that sort here, not even the sound of the wind.

Light tried not to freak out at the realization, taking in deep breaths and continuing his walk down the path.

The trees eventually cleared out when he came upon a lake.

It looked bluish as it reflected the dark, starless sky, the moon a perfect round shape on its surface.

It was still as well, a large mirror in the middle of the clearing.

The trail had disappeared completely, stopping right at the edge of the water.

Small plants are scattered around the edge, completely still as if they were from a picture.

The chill still haven't let him go, it instead grew stronger the longer he stayed here.

Light stepped back from the clearing, unnerved from just standing there.

He started to turn when a single tap sounded from the lake.

Light stilled.

He slowly turned back to the water, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, other than the fact that the whole place had seemed unreal.

He stared at the large pool of water, reflecting everything above it.

 _Like a mirror…_

Sounds of shattering glass filled his ears.

Light gasped and back away a few steps.

He expected something to happen, staring at the dark lake in terrified expectation.

Nothing happened.

Light kept his gaze fixed on the water but didn't see or hear anything.

He let himself relax a little.

"What a nice place you've found here," a voice sounded by his ear.

Light yelped and spun around, meeting Kira's amused gaze.

His red eyes seemed to glow as he watched Light's frozen form, staring at him in open horror.

"They say that dreams are a reflection of reality, memories of our experiences and suppressed desires," Kira said, chuckling, "I wonder which was true for you, Light."

He started walking forward, causing Light to back away.

"What do you want?" Light demanded, managing to make his voice level, his face a perfect frown.

Kira didn't answer, still smirking, "I wonder if it's true, that if you die in a dream…"

Light found himself stepping beyond the edge, water soaking into one of his shoes.

"You die in real life."

He was aware of what Kira is implying and lunged to the right, before trying to sprint pass his left.

Unfortunately, Kira pretty much knew all the tricks Light have, tackling Light with a direct hit when he should've been fooled from the bluff.

They both fell into the water, Light half-lying in the lake with Kira on top of him.

He struggled, trying to get free of Kira's iron grip as they wrestled.

The red-eyed man snarled, dazing Light with a particularly hard hit that left him flat on the shallow lake bed.

"You can't run," Kira growled, getting up onto his feet, "You can't escape."

He pulled on his collar, dragging as Light started to struggle.

Kira glared at him, annoyed as he landed a blow to his side.

Light coughed, distracted by the pain as Kira went to crouch on top of him.

He caught sight of Kira's ugly smirk as he stared down at him, his eyes gleaming like cursed rubies.

" _You are mine_."

Kira shoved down on his head and shoulder, submerging Light within an inch of the surface.

Light attempted to fight him, hands flying up to try and pry Kira's hands off of him, trying to move up that one inch so he could breathe.

Kira pressed down even harder, a manic light in his eyes as he watched his host suffer.

More bubbles filled his vision, distorting the image of the man before him as his lungs burn for air and burn even more from the water entering his airway.

He's going to die.

No, I don't want to die!

Light thought he could hear Kira's laughter in the blur of the dark waters as his consciousness began to melt into the darkness.

I don't want to die…

* * *

L was on his laptop when the thrashing began.

He turned and found Light tossing and turning on his side of the bed, his knuckles paling from clutching the covers.

A whimper slipped from Light's lips as he twisted, his face contorted in pain.

L have seen Light have nightmares before, but not quite this serious.

He crawled right out of the chair and onto the bed in a strange spidery way, concern etched onto his pale face as he reached out.

"Light-kun."

He emitted a weak cry at the contact but did not wake, his free hand clawed at the sheets desperately.

L began to shake him, "Light, wake up."

Noises that sounded disturbingly like uncontrollable sobbing came out of Light, effectively scaring L a bit.

L shifted to crouch before him and shook him even harder, "Light, wake up, please!"

The teen suddenly sat up with a sharp wail, causing L to fall over in utter shock, his feet flailing in the air as he landed on the mattress with wide eyes.

L quickly rolled over out of the embarrassing position, only to see Light staring at him unseeingly, his usual amber eyes dark with fear. He still clung onto the covers like a lifeline, his breathing quick and loud in the dim room.

It sounded like he couldn't get air into his lungs quick enough.

The detective had never seen so much fear from Light before and had no idea what to do.

At the rate where this is going, Light could potentially go into an attack of some sort.

L righted himself, studying Light carefully as he calls out in a cautious voice, "Light-kun?"

He didn't respond.

It looked like his mind is still trapped in the horrors of the nightmare, detached and unseeing of reality.

L noticed him shivering uncontrollably, even though it's not unbearably cold.

He reached out with a hesitant hand, "Light-kun?"

Light jerked at the sudden touch, though he didn't pull away like L expected him to.

He turned his head towards the contact but didn't register it, his eyes still staring at a vacant spot in front of him.

 _What happened?_

L couldn't bring himself to ask just yet, the way Light is behaving right now igniting a cold restlessness in himself.

He slowly and carefully slipped his bony arms around the other's body, allowing instinct to take charge since his brain had gone blank regarding what he should do in this situation.

Light gasped as his stiff body slumped at the warm touch.

L was mildly startled when Light's arms came to wrap tightly around himself, cold and desperate.

"Oh, L," his voice came out as a sob even if he didn't cry.

He leaned into L's body, in great need for comfort as he gulped for air.

L awkwardly put a reassuring hand on his back, holding him silently.

* * *

It didn't take too long for him to calm down, his breathing going back to normal as he clutched onto L still.

"Light-kun," he asked softly, "Won't you tell me what happened?"

Light shook his head in silence.

"Why?" He asked in a low and mildly hurt voice.

The teen was still, refusing to answer.

"Why won't you tell me what is wrong?"

Light shifted, pulling away from the older man.

L reluctantly let him go, disappointment filling him as Light ran away yet again.

He looked away from L, before muttering, "Because you're L."

Understanding dawned on him at the spoken words.

Because I am L.

World's greatest detective, the symbol of Justice itself.

Light is chained to him as a Kira suspect, a mass murderer that L is currently on the hunt for.

L was not sure what had happened exactly, whether Light was a proxy or he was Kira himself. Whichever the case, the deaths of thousands had been caused by his own hands. Even if he is not Kira right now and is never going to become Kira, his hands are still tainted by all those deaths.

Light found himself responsible, he realized. He believed that L is going to sentence him if he says something that sounds remotely like a confession.

Because it is L the detective's job to capture offenders.

Light is never going to be able to tell him what had occurred to spook him as such, as long as he remained the suspect and as long as L remained the detective.

It will never happen.

Light shifted, pulling the covers over himself as he laid back down, facing away from him.

It was at this point that L silently wished that he wasn't L the investigator.

He simply wanted to be L the person.

L sat staring at Light for a long while, before moving back to his laptop, desolation filled his chest.

He wanted to help Light and save him from whatever that's haunting him, yet he cannot.

He could only sit back and watch the scene unfold, his role a terrible one to fulfill.

If this is what he have to do, he wished that he was not L.

He glanced over at Light's still form.

 _How can I help him?_

He wondered desperately.

 _How?_


	9. Identity

Matsuda stood nervously to one side of the room, holding a tray full of steaming coffee that he had kindly prepared for the others in the Task Force.

Apparently he had just returned from the kitchen and was confronted by a sight that could either spell bad news or… well, general news, probably.

He looked about discreetly and saw that the others had noticed them as well. No one seem to have made any mention of it, occasionally glancing at the two strangers and becoming slightly distracted in their work.

L on the other hand didn't seem to notice them as he played with the frosting on his cake, drawing random patterns on the plate with his fork. Light ignored him, as usual.

In fact, Matsuda sensed that the two were somehow much more distant today, from others and each other.

He wanted to ask what had happened before this.

But first, he will have to address the elephant in the room, where the others don't seem to have the nerve to speak up and ask.

"Urm… who are those people?" He questioned in a timid voice that sounded much too loud in the large room.

The others cast their eyes upon him, some of them settled back on the two strangers who were not supposed to be able to enter the building, unless L allowed them to.

So Matsuda guessed they had to be L's people.

L glanced at them and finally took a bite of his cake, before spinning around in his chair to face the two.

"Hello Aiber, Wedy," he greeted, lazily holding the fork that hung from his mouth, "Glad to see that you can make it."

The foreign man, which Matsuda guessed to be Aiber flashed a white-toothed grin.

He supposed Aiber is quite good-looking, the tall man had his golden locks lazily slicked back and hanging over his chiseled face in a charming disarray. His blue eyes gleamed with sincerity which reflected in his winning smirk.

His was dressed well, his clothing choice almost up to Light's impeccable standards. The difference is that he held a casual air that Light did not possess, his posture open and earnest.

Yet Matsuda could sense an air of deceit about him, like an invisible coil that masked his true intentions.

Next to him is a woman with medium blond hair, shining platinum under the harsh light of the workroom.

She wore a black fur hat and beige checkered dress suit that matched her short skirt, a pair of branded dark glasses hid her eyes, her coral red lips looking as though she was about to break into a broad smile.

"It seems the Great L had grown rusty," Aiber said in perfect Japanese pronunciation, amused, "To not have noticed us right until we were pointed out."

Wedy smirked at that, tipping her sunglasses down, allowing others a view of her bright eyes.

The others seemed appalled at the gall of the man to say such a thing to the detective.

L simply stared at him silently with disinterest, before he muttered in a detached manner, "I see, I suppose you are right."

To others, L sounded like his usual deadpan self, but Matsuda could see that he seemed more jaded than usual.

He noticed that Light seemed just as weary, the shift in his demeanor was more obvious than that of the detective. Matsuda had to wonder what had happened between the two for them to end up this way.

They were just fine not long ago.

"Explain this, Ryuzaki," Soichiro said, his chair turned to face L.

Ever since Soichiro grew suspicious in his intention towards his son, he had been less courteous to L, sometimes his actions bordered on passive-aggressive, occasionally half-glaring at L or deciding not to greet him when he used to do so without fail.

L didn't seem too bothered by that, though Light seemed to become slightly uncomfortable under his father's scrutiny.

Sometimes, Matsuda felt that Soichiro is too protective of Light. Although he can't help but agree that something is indeed going on between the two younger men chained to one another.

"As you know, Yagami-san," L droned, "We are quite short-handed right now, I therefore took it to myself to hire some professionals to help with the investigation."

The blonde woman smirked, the corner of her red lips quirked ever so slightly, "Oh, you flatter us, Master L."

"Are they detectives?" Soichiro quietly disregarded her.

"Negative," L answered, "They are quite the opposite."

The others looked confused.

"What do you mean by that?" Light asked.

"They are part of the underworld," L stated in a matter-of-fact way, slicing off another chunk of cake and popping it into his mouth, "I chose them because they were both highly skilled but not as distinguished that Kira might end up killing them. They are the best in their field. Aiber is a competent conman, while Wedy specializes in disabling security systems and lock-picking."

"And that was how we managed to get in here in the first place," Aiber added with a shrug.

The others stared at L, agape.

L stared back at them, "Yes?"

"They're criminals," Soichiro said as if it wasn't obvious enough.

"Indeed they are."

"You hired criminals," he said in an accusatory tone.

"I did," L said nonchalantly.

"I thought you were supposed to be on the side of the law!"

"I work with the law, Yagami-san," L said calmly, "I do not work under it."

Soichiro stared him down silently.

"As of now, the law is inadequate in its aid towards catching Kira," L said, "We need all the help that we can get. If you value your life I suggest you accept the fact that we are taking those two under our wing."

The others apart from the newcomers all stared at L, surprised that he had spoken to the Soichiro in such a manner.

"If that is the case," the former police chief said, fairing well to control his anger, "Then I believe you have failed Justice."

L tilted his head in a show of skepticism, "I believe what you are referring to is the law, not justice in itself, Yagami-san."

At the look of confusion in the older man's face, L elaborated, "The law that we all know simply enforces and punishes, based on the society's perception of right and wrong, the prosecution is then carried out respectively."

"Justice, however, is more concerned about the fairness," the detective turned back to his squashed cake, giving it a look of distaste before reaching for his tea, "L believes in redemption and rehabilitation that comes with it."

L reached for the bowl of sugar and started dropping them into his drink, "If the criminal is able to repent for his actions, the punishment need not be absolute if they were willing and able to atone."

"Justice is not as black and white as law is," L said as he took a sip of his tea, before turning around and speaking in a tone of finality.

"It believes in mercy."

Soichiro simply huffed and went back to his work.

L discreetly turned to glance at Light in an attempt to see the effect of his words and its implications.

The boy was looking straight at him, a look of astonishment on his face.

That's right, L is more than willing to allow him the chance to redeem himself. If only Light would ask and allow him the knowledge of what happened.

Only then could L truly help him.

Hopefulness swelled in L's heart, reflected in Light's eyes as he considered L's words.

That quickly dissipated from his amber eyes, the momentary spark in them smoldered and died off, the orbs dimming into those of a doll.

L was first bewildered by that, before despondency began to consume his soul.

 _You still won't let me in after all that?_

L turned back to his desk, sipping his tea as if the split-second exchange did not happen.

He turned to the Task Force and announced, "From today onwards the two of them will be working together with us, so I appreciate that they receive some form of welcome."

A series of pleasantries were exchanged, though more muted by the original members of the case.

L couldn't blame them for that, they were never made to work with people that they were supposed to apprehend.

But since they have lost the backing of the NPA and a member of their own, they need all the resources they can get in order to catch Kira.

L assigned the newcomers their tasked and asked for his cake to be replaced.

He was idle for a long moment, before turning to Light.

"I wish to speak to Light-kun," he uttered.

Light turned to him silently, a probing look on his face.

He didn't seem too keen to have to talk.

"Please."

"Fine," he sighed, slowly getting up.

L led him out of the room, Soichiro's hard eyes following them as they exited in silence.

* * *

They ended up on the roof, where nothing had been installed to record them or what they decide to talk about.

It was the most privacy they can have in this building, the most open space that they can find.

It felt as though nothing needs to be hidden or enclosed up here.

It's the closest feeling to freedom.

The late afternoon sun shone on their backs, basking them in a yellowish glow.

It wasn't glaringly bright or hot out. It was simply warm.

Light slowly made his way to the railings, looking down upon the city below.

L stood behind him, his hands in his jean pockets.

"You rejected me yet again," he began, straight to the point.

"What are you talking about," Light uttered, his statement hardly a question.

"You know full well what I was implying by those words, Light-kun."

"I did know," Light glanced at him sidelong.

"But I'm not Kira."

"I know that."

"Then why did you offer that to me?" Light asked, "As if I'm a criminal in need of redemption."

"Because your actions practically told me that you have committed his crimes."

Light glared at him.

"I am not able to help you correctly if you do not let me know what is truly going on," L persisted.

"Are we on this again?"

"I will continue to talk about this until you decide to spill," L stated.

"This is almost as bad as you accusing me of being Kira all the time," Light mentioned irritably.

"I am quite certain that you are not Kira," L revealed, fixing Light with a harsh gaze, "But I do have the feeling that something is going on that you wouldn't. Tell. Me."

Light was silent, his eyes still held hints of animosity, thought it wasn't as strong as it was a second ago.

"I am your friend, Light." L admitted, "I truly wish to help you."

Light turned away, his gaze cast on the skyline and away from L.

L stepped towards him, stopping just a foot away from him.

He wished to reach out and wrench Light to face him so he can demand the truth from him right there and then.

L stayed still and asked in a hushed voice, "Why Light?"

He didn't miss the slight twitch from the other male.

"Why won't you let me help you?"

There was a long silence that followed. Light had his eyes glued to the scenery before him while L stared at his back, waiting for an answer.

He was losing any hopes of getting one when Light uttered quietly, "Because you're L."

L was surprised at the answer, before slumping at the disappointment, "I know that already."

Light shook his head, "That's not what I meant."

L stared at him in confusion, waiting for him to explain himself.

"I know what you're trying to do, L," Light muttered, "I am aware of what Justice means, what you could offer to me if you wish."

Light turned to face him, "But I cannot do that, if I were Kira."

"Why not?" L asked, genuinely curious.

"Kira had killed hundreds, L," Light said as if it should've been obvious, "Considering his crimes, you offering redemption is too much."

"It isn't a farfetched idea," L insisted, "As long as he is willing to atone, L can grant that."

"L cannot," Light argued.

"Why?"

"He is Justice, L," Light said, "If Kira seeks redemption, he can do that, he can handle the guilt."

"But even so, L would have done the unthinkable," Light asserted, "He just let the most notorious criminal in history off the hook, free from the punishment that he deserved."

"That is hardly Justice," Light said, "It isn't fair to Kira who had murdered on such a massive scale."

"It is hardly fair to you," Light muttered sadly.

L was silent, letting this sink in.

"L would be forced to bear the guilt along with Kira and I don't want that to happen," Light lowered his head.

L realized he had been mistaken all this while.

Light did not reject his help because simply because he was afraid of what he would do.

Instead, Light was afraid for him.

"I can't let it destroy you from the inside," the teen uttered melancholically.

L can't help but smile despite the mood.

The realization made him happy.

It made him sad as well.

It was a sort of bittersweet feeling.

L closed the distance between them and impulsively pressed his lips to Light's.

Light made a small noise in his throat at the sudden contact, his eyes widen at the situation at hand. L's cool hand cupped his cheek gently, the other had just snaked around the back of his head, pulling Light onto himself.

Light was still stunned when they broke apart.

L didn't look up as he muttered, "Sometimes I feel like you don't know how good you are."

The teen was silent, his softening gaze fixed on L's bangs, where his eyes were hidden.

"You don't deserve to suffer like this," L murmured, his hand had landed gently on Light's shoulder.

Light's breathing hitched at those words.

L looked up to see his eyes glistened, before he looked down out of embarrassment.

The detective slowly edged towards him, before capturing his lips in another tender kiss.

This time he lingered on the soft lips, simply relishing the contact, not taking it any further than that.

It's more than enough.

He gently nibbled on the other's lower lip and felt a slight shudder coming from Light.

It felt so very right.

It went on for a while, neither willing to break the contact or get closer.

Then Light shoved him away.

L was momentarily stunned as he stared at him, vaguely registering the slight rise and fall of his shoulders.

"Light?"

Light looked up, his eyes filled with such immense sorrow that it broke L's heart.

"I'm sorry," he said in an equally miserable voice.

L was silent, he could only stare at Light as he spoke.

"I can't do this to you."

The detective took a breath and a pause, before saying in a low voice, "I wish to help you, Light."

Light went silent, shielding his eyes away from him.

L took a tentative step forward.

"Please."

L waited for his reply and was dismayed when he saw Light shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

The detective barely took in his response, looking as though he had trouble processing what Light had said.

The two stood facing each other, the wall of silence grew ever thicker in front of them.

L gazed at him sadly, before muttering in a quiet voice, "If that is what you truly wish."

Light said nothing, steadily looking down.

"Then I shall comply with that."

He turned, signaling the end of their discussion as he headed back towards the stairwell, his hands shoved deeper into the depths of his pockets.

He didn't notice a single tear fall behind him, or the inaudible whisper that did not reach his ears.


	10. Puppet

It was chilly.

Light wearily opened his eyes, wondering when he had fallen asleep.

The bed was strangely hard and cold; where had the blanket gone? Light found his right wrist felt strangely empty. He slowly realized that the metal cuff was no longer there.

'Had L kicked him out of bed?' He thought, though that had made no sense at all.

Light sat up on what seemed to be the floor, looking around and willed his eyes to adjust to the dark.

There's nothing but darkness around him.

Puzzled, he raised a hand and found that he could clearly see it, right down to the lines on his palms.

 _What?_

That doesn't make sense.

Light put his hand down, blinking to try and spot anything else in his surroundings.

Nothing.

He must be dreaming, then.

Something cold prickled the back of his neck and he gasped, shivering.

 _Where's Kira?_

A deafening tap sounded next to him, it sounded like lightning had struck in the silent space.

Light jumped, his eyes widening in surprise as he spun to the source of that noise.

Out of nowhere, a painfully bright spotlight had appeared right beside him, illuminating a single object in a yellow glow.

 _A knife_.

Light stared at the blade in puzzlement, the cold surface gleaming under the light.

Without warning, a red and black cloud swirled on the metal surface and he gasped, beginning to scramble away from it when he realized.

He couldn't move.

Light tried to will his limbs to budge but they remained immobile, igniting a shudder of fear in him.

What's going on?

Panicked gasps escaped his lips as he tried to assess the situation.

That is when a low chuckle started behind him.

Light immediately knew who it belonged to.

 _"_ Kira _."_

"Hello, Light," he could hear Kira smirking even before he saw it.

The red-eyed man was crouched behind him, his invisible shadow falling over him as Light unwillingly remained in his initial sitting position.

"What is the meaning of this?" Light demanded, his eyes bright with defiance as he glared at the sadistic creature smiling down at him.

Kira chuckled at his tone, "Oh, Light. You really have no idea what you're in for."

"What?" He spat, struggling against the strings.

 _Wait, strings?_

Light did a double take, this time seeing hair-thin wires connecting to his two wrists and into the blackness above, the threads barely visible in the dark. He looked down and found more attached to his elbows, knees and ankles.

"What is this?" He blurted breathlessly, his eyes wide as he noticed and was disturbed that the threads seem to go through his skin instead of just tied around it.

Kira did not answer.

He simply let loose another chuckle and held up a hand.

Light saw the same sort of strings that ended in wooden rings around each of his five fingers.

Kira slowly curled in his index finger and at the same time, Light found his arm being pulled upwards by the wrist.

Light's eyes widened as he regarded Kira with a shocked gaze.

Light was chilled to the bone by the smirk that came at his reaction.

Kira proceeded to curl in his middle finger, which pulled on Light's elbow, bending his arms accordingly.

The teen panicked, "Stop-"

He snapped his hand shut, which causes Light to be abruptly tugged on by the strings, propelling him to his feet with a pained yelp.

Kira ignored that, lifting his other hand and manipulating his slender fingers in a fluid dance.

Light jerkily began to walk, his feet frighteningly moving of their own accord.

"Kira-"

He suddenly lifted one of his fingers, causing one of Light's legs to give out under him. Kira watched in amusement as Light hit the ground with a grunt.

"Stop it!" Light pleaded, half his face plastered to the ground making his voice come out slightly muffled.

Kira let out a laugh, moving his fingers again.

Light slowly and gracelessly got to his feet like his body was possessed, his angered eyes staring at him.

"Are you prepared for the show, Light?"

"What?" Light stared at him when Kira suddenly talked to him as if he's a performer.

He found himself smirked at when he went silent, "It seems that you are."

Kira snapped his fingers and another spotlight appeared, this time illuminating the teen.

Light squinted against the bright glow that washed over him, noticing that Kira's action didn't affect his movement this time.

"An actor like you should always be prepared," Kira smiled at him as he slowly lifted his arm.

"Am I right?"

 _Snap._

 _Click_.

A third spotlight appeared and Light's eyes widened in shock at the sight before him.

His father Soichiro stood before him, his usual calm disposition strained and rigid, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Before Light could react in anyway, Kira snapped his fingers again.

 _Click_.

Next to Soichiro stood Light's mother, her worried gaze cast upon him, her expression looked as though she no longer recognized her son and was looking for traces of him from before.

What is going on?

 _Snap. Click_.

Sayu appeared further away from the three, seemingly hidden behind the figures of her parents as she stared at Light with fear.

All three of them seemed frozen, Light briefly wondered if they were able to move before his father shifted uncomfortably.

It seems they are able to.

It looks more like they are in shock, paralyzed by whatever that they have seen.

Light spun to face Kira, demanding to know what is going on when Kira knowingly interrupted him in an excited voice.

"Let the show begin."

He moved his fingers and suddenly Light was walking back towards the middle.

He paled when he saw what he was heading towards.

 _The knife._

The unnatural swirls in it have already disappeared, the cold surface was clear as it reflected his terrified face.

Kira watched with rapt attention as he made Light bend over almost painfully and pick it up.

Light flinched when his fingers touched the smooth handle, before they closed around it firmly.

He straightened as abruptly as before and jerkily turned back to face his family.

With the sharp point of the knife directed at them, he realized with a chill what he was about to be made do.

"Please," Light squeezed out.

Kira ignored that and moved his fingers, manipulating Light to walk towards them.

"Stop it."

Light's body continued to walk forwards despite all his desires not to.

Soichiro caught sight of the weapon in his hand and walked forwards, a wary expression on his face, "Light, what do you think you're doing?"

"Please don't make me do this," Light pleaded, his voice nearing a sob.

His father seemed to think that it was directed at him and held up his hands, "Son, put down the knife."

Light suddenly stopped moving, his knife still raised at his father. His mother and Sayu have backed away slightly, holding each other as they stared at him in horror.

"Dad, no," he argued, unable to see what Kira is doing, "You need to leave."

"We can talk."

Suddenly, Light rushed towards his father.

He felt a jolt in his hand that held the knife as Soichiro's body jerked violently.

A warm wetness oozed onto his hand.

Light watched in horror as his father staggered back, shock and pain evident on his face as the blade slipped out of his stomach.

"Light…" he uttered, his voice barely a whisper as he crumpled to the floor.

Light stared down at his father's dead body, seeing dark blood flow out of the open wound that stained his white shirt. He barely heard the screaming coming from both his mother and Sayu as they stared at the red that painted his shirt and hands.

His ears throbbed with the loud rush of blood that went through his body, vaguely hearing Kira's laughter in the mix.

His gaze flickered down onto the knife in his hand, seeing only bright red.

He wanted to drop it, but his body wouldn't move at his command.

Light's body began to spring back to life, moving towards the source of screaming.

He looked up with wide eyes, seeing Sachiko's frightened face as she pushed his sister away.

"No!"

 _Stab!_

The last Light saw in his mother's eyes as she looked at him were of pain and anguish.

'Why, Light?' They seemed to ask.

Tears rolled down his face as he stared at his mother lying on the floor motionlessly, a large pool of red growing underneath her, soaking into her clothes.

He wailed, his voice ending in a choked sob as his heart was further gripped with acute misery.

"Not yet, Light," Kira chuckled darkly, "There's still one more."

"YOU FIEND!" Light screamed as his body was directed towards his sister.

Sayu shrieked and scrambled away.

Light chased after her unwillingly, trying in vain to regain control of his own body.

He smoothly caught her by her hair, dragging her backwards. His heart breaking with every pained yelp and fearful shriek that his sister let out.

"STOP THIS!" Light yelled at the red-eyed monster, whose smirk grew even wider as his prey grew more distressed by the second.

"Please, no!" Sayu screeched, trying to free herself from her brother's hold, "Why are you doing this?!"

Light watched helplessly as his hand came down, slicing the knife across his sister's fragile throat.

She emitted a wet choking as she fell, her eyes wide as she clawed at her neck.

A sob escaped his lips as Light went to sit on top of his sister, the dripping knife raised high above his head.

He brought it down again and again and again, slicing into Sayu's back as she let out gargling screams, her bloodied hands clawing at the floor.

Tears flowed down his face as Light sobbed pitifully, clouding his vision as his sister's body began to still below him.

Behind him, Kira sat on an invisible chair, his red eyes filling with glee as he cackled at the sight before him.

* * *

L was roused from his sleep by violent shifting beside him.

He sat up, turning to Light to see the teen thrashing next to him, his young face scrunched up as he murmured in his sleep.

Another nightmare, it seems.

L reached out to wake him when a sudden wail startled him.

The detective froze in shock upon hearing that noise, his black eyes now alert and wide.

L stared at Light, disturbed as the boy tossed and turned, the covers tangling around his body. His mutterings grew louder and more coherent.

"No… stop it…" He pleaded, his closed eyes squinted as his fingers clutched onto the sheets so tightly his knuckles began to turn white.

L had not seen anything as serious as this and moved to wake him with renewed urgency.

"Light-"

A scream cut him off, resounding in the dark room.

"Light, wake up!"

Light screamed as he shot up, his arms reaching out in front of him and latching onto L painfully.

The detective let out an uncharacteristic yelp as he found himself tackled and pinned onto the bed by a shivering Light.

The teen's full weight was on him as frantic pants filled the room, Light's white knuckled grip didn't loosen as he clutched onto L's warm body with all that he had.

L was in shock, lying dazedly on the soft mattress, vaguely registering the covers trapped between their bodies.

He was abruptly brought back to reality when his ears picked up on quiet sobbing.

Alarmed, his hands reached up, holding the teen and finding that he was indeed crying.

"Light?" He inquired in a soft voice, trying to sit up, hardly able to move as he was covered under Light's body.

He moved into a better position, his eyes widening in shock at Light's tear-streaked face.

L pulled him close, cradling his head as he whispered, "Shh, it's alright now."

Light simply buried his face in L's chest, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

His sobbing eventually died down, his fingers that clutched onto L's shirt are now numb. L didn't stop rubbing soothing circles onto his back even when the front of his shirt was soaked, holding him gently yet firmly.

He noticed when Light had stopped crying but didn't inquired for the reason, or the obviously traumatizing nightmare he just had.

He won't ask if Light didn't want to answer him.

"L?"

He tried not to grimace when Light's usual silvery tone cracked, choked up with deep sorrow.

"Yes, Light-kun?"

Light shifted, burying his face further into his shirt, "Please."

L waited patiently, patting his back.

" _Stop me_."

"Pardon?"

"Stop me," Light's voice began to grow stronger as he spoke definitively, "If you ever notice that I'm not myself in the future, stop me."

L was silent as he took in his words.

"Promise me," Light said, lifting his head to look at L.

L said nothing, his mind moving a million miles as he searched for his own response.

"Please," he prompted, his voice beginning to sound desperate.

"I promise you, Light."

At that, Light smiled softly, before closing his eyes and leaning against his shoulder, sighing in gratitude.

L didn't respond to the smile, still rattled by the display earlier.

He had no idea what Light had dreamt of to spook him so violently and had no means to find out but…

"I promise," he whispered, stroking Light's hair gently.

Light sighed as all the tension left his body and L realized that the teen has fallen asleep.

L laid him back down and righted the haphazard mess of the duvet and pulled it over his body. He settled into his usual crouch beside Light and softly patted his head.

Whatever happens in the future, L simply wished to help the teen.

He hoped that keeping his promise didn't mean that L would have to kill him.

 _Please don't let it be that._

He glanced at Light's relaxed face as he indistinctly leaned into his touch.

 _Anything but that_.


	11. Fade

"Misa has done it! Misa has found prove of Higuchi being the third Kira!"

The Task force turned their surprised eyes on her, including the two geniuses sitting in the middle of the workroom.

She beamed, proud that she had been able to aid with the investigation.

While secretly helping her lovely Light, of course.

She resisted the urge to grin to herself.

Light, her _dear_ Kira.

She could not be more overjoyed by the fact that her beloved boyfriend was actually the one amazing man that she admired.

Trust Light to be able to fool everyone like this, even L was not able to figure it out.

Misa could not expect anything more!

Her high spirits were however, dampened by that dull-looking person sitting next to the love of her life.

 _His enemy_.

"You have found evidence?" L asked, his deadpan tone managing to sound slightly incredulous.

"Yes!" She bounced towards them regardless, her show of excitement almost overbearing on the other occupants of the room.

Misa pulled out her cellphone, where she had recorded the conversation between her and Higuchi, where he had confessed to being Kira.

That did not include her mentioning she was the second Kira to get him to speak, of course.

 _Misa is not an idiot like that!_

The two males before her leaned over, listening to the snippet of conversation preserved in her phone.

"Yes, I am indeed Kira," Higuchi's rough voice sounded from the small device, "Are you more interested in me now, my dear?"

Misa didn't miss the wrinkling of Light's nose at such a blatant attempt of seducing a young girl.

Aw, she always knew that Light cares about her, being all worked up over this and all.

He was her Kira, after all.

* * *

L glanced up just as a dreamy look manifested on her face, he didn't miss that she kept subconsciously inching towards the younger male as the recording progresses.

Said male didn't notice a thing, absorbed in the content of the recording as Misa went on to ask Higuchi to prove his power.

Hmm.

L deliberately swung his arm in a wide arc towards his plate of cheesecake, causing Light to yelp in surprise as he was suddenly tugged forward by the arm.

Misa was startled out of her daydream and backed away as Light lurched forward, most definitely falling out of his chair if he had not stopped his descend in time, his other hand clutching onto the chair in a death grip.

As expected, he immediately spun to glare at him, "Ryuuzaki!"

"I apologize," he said lightly, retrieving his arm and cake, "That was not intentional."

Light shot him an annoyed look that told him he believed otherwise and L resisted the urge to flash a smirk at him.

"Ryuuzaki, stop fooling around!" Soichiro's stern voice rang out from his spot in the workroom.

L turned to meet his angered gaze that had hardly subsided since he had suspected that L had sought to court his son.

Well, he didn't mean to.

Apparently he did end up kissing him in the end.

"I apologize," L repeated, turning his gaze back to the phone.

He was rubbing a thumb over his lips, going over the piece of memory when he glanced up and notice that Light had pointedly looked away from his father, his face grim.

L tilted his head slightly, a force of habit at a show of inquisition as he studied the teen.

Was it perhaps the implication of a relationship, half-hearted that it was, that led him to ignore his father as such, unable to meet his gaze?

Although L had noted that Light did not have that look on his face before today, it's a new expression.

L also noticed that his gaze was inclined downwards today, pursing his lips.

He remembered seeing that kind of face before, tucked somewhere in his vast bank of memory.

The origin hadn't mattered much, though.

What was it called again?

Ah, yes.

 _Guilt._

L was puzzled, why was Light expressing guilt around his dad and in such a serious manner as well?

He was certain that Light had done nothing wrong.

Light suddenly noticed that he was being watched.

His brown gaze flickered up, meeting L's attentive eyes for a second before hurriedly turning away, opting instead to focus on the murmured discussion that went on about the recording.

L was highly puzzled, still pondering hard about it until he was pulled into the conversation.

"Isn't it great Ryuuzaki?" Matsuda exclaimed, "We have confirmed who is the real Kira now!"

"Yes indeed we have," L answered automatically, before starting to give out orders, "We shall begin the capture of Kyosuke Higuchi, I will have Wedy go over to his home and set up the cameras."

"Shouldn't we just arrest him immediately?" The young detective questioned.

"We will need definite prove, Matsuda-san," L said, "The recording is hardly sufficient to provide as evidence of his being Kira. We need to know what his weapon is, how he kills and from that, we might be able to get closer to the identity of the First Kira."

L noticed Light tensing slightly next to him, an action that easily went unnoticed by the others.

"Therefore we are unable to capture him as of yet."

"Uh, okay," Matsuda said sheepishly, lowering his head.

L caught Misa gazing at Light in wonderment, which brings to attention his suspicion.

It did not escape his notice that Amane Misa had purposefully slipped out of Mogi's supervision in order to obtain this evidence that they now have.

If it was to answer L's prompt of her to help Light that time, it was too much of a bravado to simply just be her trying to help the investigation.

And ultimately her boyfriend, of course.

He was aware of the devotion that Misa has towards Light, though that in itself had seemed unnatural in the start.

Unless of course, her tendencies were bordered on obsession.

And how had she gotten Higuchi to spill so easily?

Either he was just that enraptured by the young model to impress her by mentioning that he is Kira.

Or Misa had said something that prompted him to say that in turn.

That something sounds suspiciously to be along the line of, 'I am the Second Kira.'

Either way, L had to monitor her movements much closer now.

It was all just too convenient.

L's eyes flickered to see that Misa is creeping towards Light again.

He jerked his hand, drawing a sharp cry of surprise from Light again as he reached for his tea.

"Would you cut it out!"

"I beg your pardon?" L turned to him, blinking his eyes innocently.

He didn't miss Soichiro grumbling in the background.

Oh well, there isn't much he could do about that now.

L subtly narrowed his eyes at Light over his teacup as he drank, making sure that he was the only one to catch that.

Light just rolled his eyes.

Hah, that's not very cute.

* * *

Finally, Light couldn't take much more of Misa's bombardment of affection towards him once they were free to formulate and finalize their plan.

She had remained close to him the whole time, pushing herself onto him, literally.

More often than not, Light had to politely get her to back off so he could concentrate on his work and stop the others from staring at him.

That alone isn't bad enough.

What had made it unbearable was L's piercing gaze that seemed to be directed to him every time Misa came close to him.

And by every time, he meant the _whole_ time.

Despite the fact that he had nonchalantly let her get close to Light, in an effort to bribe her into infiltrating the Yotsuba Corporation as an undercover model just a few days ago.

L was definitely on a jealous streak today.

But that didn't mean that he could attempt to introduce Light's face to the floor.

He had hastily muttered some excuse and brought L along with him only because they are quite unfortunately attached to each other, still.

Somehow they found themselves on the windy roof of the building, the early autumn air had just begun to grow cooler, the temperature invigorating instead of chilly as silvery clouds hug in the gray sky.

Light made his way towards the steel railings, this time leaning against them with his back away from the skyline, letting out a sigh.

L simply stood where he was, observing Light and the city below them at the same time.

"Why is it that we always find our way back to the roof?" L questioned out of idleness.

"It's peaceful here," Light said absentmindedly, his gaze not fixed on anything in particular.

"I suppose."

A silent moment passed by, having nothing else to disrupt it other than the faint noise of the wind.

"Aren't you going to ask questions?"

L looked straight at him, before uttering, "I will not if Light-kun does not wish for it."

The teen chuckled lightly, "And when would I ever want to answer your questions?"

"When you are comfortable with it, I suppose," L said.

Light stopped smiling, watching L with his eyes that turned the shade of chocolate in the dimming sky.

"Do you still remember the card game we played?"

L tilted his head slightly, "If you're talking about that particular game of Blackjack, then yes, I remember very well."

"It's called Twenty-one."

L caught Light trying not to smile and spoke in a jest-hued voice, "Blackjack."

"You are intolerable," Light said with hardly an annoyed tone.

"And yet you liked me as a friend," L shot back.

Light finally cracked a tiny smile, "So do you."

They shared a chuckle, before basking in companionable silence on the tranquil roof.

"So we are now one step closer to capturing Kira," Light started.

"The _T_ _hird_ Kira," L corrected.

"Are you still harping on this?" Light raised an eyebrow, "That you must capture the First Kira no matter what?"

L surveyed Light's mood for the moment, before answering, "Yes, he was the first frighteningly intelligent adversary I have, of course I can't stop chasing him until the very end."

"Persistent, are you?" Light said, not without humor.

Though L could sense something much darker, looming just underneath the surface.

"That's good," Light muttered, "I wouldn't want you to stop pursuing Kira regardless of what happens."

L caught the bitter smile that emerged on Light's face.

"You're the only one I can trust to _end_ him."

A sharp pang struck his heart.

Before they knew it, L had crossed the short distance between them, his form looming over Light's.

Light was undeniably startled as L stood really close to him that he could feel the warmth coming off of his body, L's breathing loud by his ear.

"Please don't do anything silly," he whispered desperately.

Light was speechless, he had never heard the detective plead before.

Not for anything.

"I am completely in the dark here, Light," L continued, "Whatever that's happening to you and whatever it is that you're trying to do…"

L took a shuddering breath.

"You make it sound like you're going to fade away."

Light clenched his jaw, tormented by L's broken voice.

"Please… don't."

Light lowered his head.

"I have never asked for anything out of want before," L said, "Can't I be selfish and ask this of you, at least?"

Light stood still and refused to respond as L took a step back to assess his reaction.

"Light…"

Light raised his head, a smile that is clearly forced shown on his face.

"I can't stop it, L," he muttered.

"It is not something within my control."

L stood in silence, grasping at the limited clues that he was provided with, his heart churning in turmoil at the same time.

He gave a quiet sigh, before staring at Light in the eyes.

He registered that the sadness pooled in the dark eyes reflected his own.

"May I kiss you at least?"

Light cracked a smile at that.

"You didn't ask for permission before," he chided mildly, "Is there any need to do that now?"

L smiled back at the silliness of that statement, taking it as an invitation, "I suppose not."

The detective leaned in slowly, before capturing Light's lips in a soft kiss.

His hand wandered over his firm back, evidence of Light's ideal physique, the other reached up and ran through his hair. L vaguely felt a meek hand land on his shoulder, before holding onto the soft fabric of his shirt.

Light's lips moved against his own, melding together in a shy dance.

L marveled at the softness of his lips and how right Light fitted in his arms, hot breath mingling with his own as he panted, seemingly unable to get enough air.

Light's hand at his shoulder tightened its grip, holding onto him as if he's a lifeline.

 _I just want to save you._

He subtly licked at the other's lips, before sensing Light reluctantly allowing him access.

L allowed a little smile of his own, before thrusting his tongue in like he's candy he's been dying to taste.

Light let out a surprised noise at the sudden intrusion and emitted more as he felt L's slender tongue parry his own, running over his teeth and evilly tickling the roof of his mouth.

He can't help but think of the damned cherry knots that L enjoyed tormenting him with as the said man began to work him senseless.

His hand that held a fistful of L's shirt gripped onto it ever tighter, looking as though he might tear it off at any moment.

Light was allowed a breath of air as L pulled away, gasping before plunging into it again, this time coaxing Light's tongue into his mouth.

Unlike the older man, Light was clumsy, having not partake in this kind of thing before, or practicing on cherry knots like L so obviously did.

L merely guided him, letting him slowly map out his mouth, teasing him even, before pushing back into his own.

It had felt so full of desperation.

It was as if they will _never_ be this close again.

Light gasped as he pulled back, panting hard as he laid his head on L's shoulder, his hand still clutching onto his shirt.

L didn't seemed to have a hard time breathing like he was, he could sense the amusement coming off the man.

So Light pushed off him slightly and shot him a lazy glare, his face flushed.

L laughed, "I suppose Light-kun is truly innocent in this field."

"As if you aren't," he shot back, his breathing uneven.

L simply gave him another kiss, a chaste one, before pulling back and smiling at him.

Light blushed even harder at that.

* * *

He would rather remain in L's embrace for longer, until a cold wind pierced through his clothes, causing him to shiver.

L noticed that and said, "I suppose it is time for us to go back inside."

Light nodded, slowly releasing L's crumpled sleeve as L let him go, his reluctant eyes lingering on him for a moment longer.

He didn't expect L to extend a tentative hand towards him.

Light stared at it for a second, startled, before looking up at L.

What he found was an imploring gaze, the black eyes seemed to burn into him as L waited.

It softened when he saw that Light blushed and smiled a little, slipping his hand onto his.

L's cool fingers curled around Light's that had started to chill from the temperature, holding it carefully and firmly, before starting to lead him back towards the stairwell.

* * *

They had made it to the corridor outside the workroom when Light suddenly paused, tearing his hand out of L's so fast that he didn't realize it happened.

L followed his wide gaze, seeing Soichiro standing in the middle of the hallway, his face stern.

He had most obviously seen that.

L stepped forward immediately, putting himself between Light and his father, "Yagami-san-"

"I would like to have a word with Light," he interrupted, the hard stare remaining.

L sensed a slight pull on the cuffs around his wrist, indicating that Light had indeed backed away a little bit.

"I would like to ask you to calm down," L said, deciding that he wasn't going to budge.

"I am calm," Soichiro snapped, "I only wish to speak with my son."

L was about to argue when Light spoke up, "It's ok, Ryuuzaki."

The detective turned to him, "But Light-kun-"

"I'll be fine."

L turned to see Light flash a reassuring smile at him, having stepped beside him.

"Very well," L said reluctantly.

Soichiro who had been watching the exchange between the two asserted, "It will be in private."

"I will stay," he argued.

The older man narrowed his eyes in irritation, the reflection in his dark eyes looked as though the harsh light is emitted from within.

"Ryuuzaki," Light said in a warning tone.

L turned to Light, his questioning eyes searching the youth's face.

Eventually, he backed down, reaching into his pocket to produce a silver key.

He slid that into the lock at Light's end of the cuff, where it falls apart with a click and hit the concrete floor with a muted thud.

Light rubbed his wrist, the cuff having chafed his skin with its constant presence, muttering a soft 'thanks'.

L nodded, before muttering that he will await them in the workroom, leaving with the open cuff dragging across the floor.

The tension heightened as soon as the detective left the scene, Light staring at his feet, unable to meet his father's eyes.

Both at the relationship and that… dream.

 _"Light."_

He flinched slightly at Soichiro's voice.

"Light, look at me."

He slowly lifted his head, his timid gaze meeting with Soichiro's.

His father couldn't help but think that Light looked so much like the child he used to be and how on earth L had even came to the assumption that Light had been Kira.

It's just absurd, seeing this.

He sighed, unable to relax his rigid stance, "I take it that you are in a relationship with him?"

Light visibly swallowed, before uttering in a small voice.

"Yes."

"L, of all people?" He couldn't help the incredulous tone that crept into his voice.

"I…" His son's voice came out in a croak, he cleared his throat and spoke in a clearer, stronger voice, "I find him a good companion, he is much more interesting than many I know."

He noticed a particular gleam in Light's eye just at the mention of L, his cheeks turning a discreet pink as he spoke of it to his father.

"Do you love him, Light?"

Light turned a deep shade of red, before stammering, "L-Love is too strong a word for it, I think. It's more of a… an affection."

Soichiro stared at his embarrassed son who can't help but tear away his gaze.

This is just wrong.

There is an age gap between the two, though not big, he didn't like that Light could be easily taken advantaged of due to his young age.

He was aware that Light is capable of looking out for himself, but Soichiro isn't said to be protective for nothing.

Also, his son's love interest just have to be a man. An older man. There are many things wrong with that.

But he did notice that Light seemed to act more like his age around L, shattering his "perfect" image that he gives off to others.

How would you describe it – he just seems more…

Alive.

Soichiro noted that he hadn't been like that at all with any of his past lovers, so to speak.

Light shrank back further as Soichiro remained silent, appearing to be scrutinizing him.

Light's father cleared his throat, before uttering, "Light, I can't say that I approve of this relationship."

He lowered his head in disappointment.

"But I have to say that there is nothing wrong, if you want to pursue something with him."

At that, Light looked up and stared at his father in shock, looking as though he had never seen him before in his entire life.

"You're… you're not mad?"

His father let out a sigh and a chuckle at the same time, "How can I be mad, you are my son."

He stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder.

"You are always my son no matter what happens," he smiled.

Light smiled back faintly, still recovering from the situation, "Thanks, dad."

"We should go continue our work, then," Soichiro said, beginning to make his way back to the workroom.

"Dad."

He turned and was startled when Light pulled him into a firm hug.

"I love you, Dad," Light uttered, the sudden crack in his voice went unnoticed.

It has been a while since his son ever expressed his emotions that Soichiro found himself in a bit of a shock.

He slowly smiled and returned the embrace, patting his head.

"I love you too, son."

Soichiro's heart swelled with warmth at Light's rare display of familial affections towards him.

Little did he know that it will be the last time Light will ever do.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, I can't believe we have reached chapter 10 already, quite a ways that we have come (yay). The plot will most likely begin to pick up again after this if ya know what I mean.**

 **Anyways, I would like to thank you all for your continued support on this fic and also thank those who have most generously provided me with them delicious reviews.**

 **Shout-outs and big thanks to:**

 _ **Fanfiction Lurker 1**_

 _ **cheeseandhamburger**_

 _ **Shixti**_

 _ **KillerRose17**_

 _ **.infinity**_

 _ **Weaselandcherry**_

 _ **Theystolemyname**_

 _ **and**_

 _ **vivilicious**_

 **That'll be all and until next time!**


	12. Stranger

L suppressed a little smile as Light and his father returned to the room, hiding the fact that he had spied on their little exchange outside the workroom.

Light had an inkling L would do so, though the detective was sure that he hadn't given anything away.

The brunette deliberately faced away from L for the next hour or so, until he was forced to snap at L for his ridiculous teasing.

L smiled at him then, where he bashfully looked away and tried to hide the fact that he's blushing like some silly schoolgirl.

Meanwhile, Soichiro simply shook his head and rolled his eyes at their slightly-less-than-obvious-exchanges.

* * *

A few days after that, they focused most of their energies into capturing Higuchi, starting to create a plan that will cause him to panic and be forced to come out into the open.

Matsuda had been opposed to the plan, as his life will be put in danger since they're dealing with Kira here, a man that can kill with just a name and face.

L reassures him that he will most likely not die, due to the fact that Higuchi had not known his actual name when he had messed up during his attempt to infiltrate the Yotsuba just over a week ago.

Light chipped in, helping him to warm up to the idea where L's tactless words failed to do so.

Eventually, he agrees and the plan was set in motion.

He didn't see Light jab at L at his thoughtlessness, where L gave some sort of an uncommitted answer in return.

Light rolled his eyes at him, before he smiled contently.

L peered at him but did not point it out, in case he grew conscious of it and stopped.

* * *

That few nights, Light continued having nightmares, his dreams scaring him into wakefulness every time.

He would reach out for L who was there in an instant, grasping onto him, gasping and trembling at the memories of his dreams.

L would then awkwardly soothe him, stroking his hair and patting his back and murmuring comforting words in his ear.

Light seemed to enjoy the warm touches, calming down as L's low voice lulled him back to sleep.

L then took to holding him in his sleep, periodically stroking his hair as the hours ticked past, before falling asleep himself.

Light did not have any more nightmares after that.

* * *

"It appears we are needed at the scene," L said, as he watch the live feed, where Higuchi continued to race down the streets, his red sports car going out of control.

He and Light immediately headed to the roof, where Watari is already waiting in his sniper gear.

Light did a double take at the wizened man.

"Watari is a certified sniper," L said, as if that explained everything.

"I see," Light said, still staring at the other man as he climbed into the helicopter and prepared his rifle.

L then hopped onto the co-pilot seat, clambering across it before settling himself in his usual perch in the pilot seat.

Light found himself being dragged into the other seat, this time staring at L as he put on his headphones and starting up the chopper.

"L."

"Yes?" He didn't take his eyes off the dashboard as he continued to flip the switches.

"You know how to _fly_?"

L turned to him then, as if what he's doing wasn't enough evidence, "Of course, why else would I be here?"

Light gaped at him, then turned his head skywards, "Yes, of course you do."

L was silent for a bit, before saying, "Yes, in fact, I just researched that this morning."

The younger male jerked his head back towards L, shock evident on his face.

"Just kidding, Light-kun."

Light was about to snap at him when Watari told them to stop bickering, undoubtedly in a serious mood today with his sniper rifle.

Light wasn't going to mess with that and decided he always can get back at L later.

The detective resumed his work, before he handed Light his headset and muttered, "Please don't forget to fasten your seatbelt."

The vehicle then started up and ascended into the sky above, heading towards Higuchi.

Light was equal parts relief and apprehension.

They will be able to capture Higuchi and stop his killings.

However, he wasn't sure if he will be able to see an end to Kira's hauntings.

There's only one way to find out as they are headed closer and closer towards their destination.

* * *

L sat frozen in his seat, pale hands barely holding onto the sleek black book.

He just stared in disbelief at the impossible sight before him, eyes wide and mouth barely keeping itself from hanging open.

It was as though he had seized up, his brain unable to comprehend the supernatural in the form of a giant skeleton humanoid in front of him.

He had thought himself hallucinating at first, but the reactions shown from the others that have touched the notebook previously had told him otherwise.

L also vaguely remembered that Kira had indeed mention about death gods.

This was all real.

 _Impossible…_

He barely heard Light's worried voice calling out to him.

"Ryuuzaki?" He said, "What's wrong, what do you see?"

L didn't respond, so he figured things would be better explained if he took the book and see it for himself.

"Give me the book," he snapped and reached for it, tugging it out of L's hand.

The moment he touches the book, Light screamed.

L started and turned to stare at him, at Light who clutched the black notebook in his hands, his eyes wide and blank and screaming as if he had been stabbed.

It was gone just as abruptly as it started, cut short like someone had finally landed the finishing blow on his victim as Light lowered his gaze, hidden beneath his bangs.

It could've been due to the sight of the monster in front of him.

But L felt that wasn't it.

It wasn't a scream of fear or terror.

It sounded so much _worse_.

Before L could ask him whether he was okay, Light raised his head and turned to him.

"I'm sorry for that," he said mildly, "I was startled."

L stared at him dumbly, the situation a shock to him.

Light looked away and swiftly opened the book, starting up a search program, "I'll check the names in the book to see if it matches the death list."

L was stunned.

The way Light behaved, it was as if the scream had never happened at all.

In front of the helicopter, the white monster suddenly spread its leathery wings with a deafening crack, earning the attention of everyone around it as it announced.

"Humans, I am the death god known as Rem."

It pointed a bony finger at the book, L presumed, as he can't tear his eyes off of that impossible thing.

"That notebook over there is called the Death Note," it continued, "A tool of the shinigami to take souls, by writing down their names."

"Shut up, you blasted thing!" Higuchi who was bound and blinded screamed as he struggled, his secrets told by the creature that should've been on his side.

"All people whose names are written in the notebook," it trained its yellow eyes onto Higuchi distastefully, "Shall die."

The man wailed, falling to his knees, the military personnel following him as they continue to restrain him.

A notebook that kills…

L still can't process all this right now but it does make sense at the moment, about the nature of Kira's abilities and why it had been so difficult to capture him.

Suddenly, Higuchi screamed, this time seizing up before falling to the ground, struggling against his bindings.

The staff was startled, before rushing to him at once.

L was staring at the scene that unfolded before him, Higuchi writhing in what seems to be sudden pain and the team trying to grab onto him.

Within moments, he was still, slumped forward and head hanging in the air, his eyes open and glassy.

He was checked, before someone announced the trembling voice betraying his shock.

"He's dead!"

Dead.

A heart attack?

 _Kira!_

L promptly turned to Light, who looked just as shocked as everyone else as he stared frightfully at Higuchi's dead body.

"Give it to me!" L tore the book out of Light's hands and began flipping through it at an impossible speed, eyes scanning for one name.

It wasn't there.

L flipped the pages over and over again, even turning the book over in his search for it.

Nowhere.

L lowered the notebook, puzzled.

He turned to face Light, who had been staring at L with a worried expression on his face.

"What's wrong, L?"

L barely noticed it, but Light's eyes were dark, almost black, like there's something sinister swirling in their depths.

It looked the same as it had been during his first few days of confinement.

They were dark and cold, unlike the set of warm brown eyes that he grew used to see.

They were unlike Light.

Which meant…

L held his tongue, giving nothing away as he slowly uttered.

"Nothing."

He tore his gaze away from 'Light' and stared out at the scene before him.

"Nothing is wrong."

* * *

"So that's it?" Matsuda said, "Kira is dead, just like that?"

"It would appear so," L said, as he vacantly stared at the little notebook in front of him.

A notebook that held so much power and destruction.

L had looked through the whole book on the way back to headquarters, brain idly storing away additional information he had gotten.

Interestingly, the Death Note seemed to work in rather specific ways, governed by a very particular set of rules.

He found that it had largely made sense, if the user was able to use it correctly and effectively.

It explained how the First Kira had required both a face and name to kill, while the Second Kira and subsequently Higuchi was able to do so with just a face.

Also, it starts to fit in when he found the rules about the giving up of the Death Note and how touching it again will return the memories.

Including the one where the user needs to kill the current owner in order to gain ownership of the Death Note.

He felt as though Light-

No, not Light.

He tried not to glance at the silent figure behind him.

 _Kira_.

He was sure Kira had been the one to kill Higuchi.

That means he must have gotten hold of the Death Note and written his name down, somehow.

L wonders if one could tear out a piece of paper from the Death Note and write in it still.

Then a lot of things would fit into the equation.

There's still so much mysteries surrounding the book that L wanted to discover.

However, some things do not make much sense.

Namely, the last two rules in the Death Note.

'Once a user writes a name in the Death Note, if he/she does not use it again within thirteen days, the user shall die of a heart attack.'

'If the Death Note were to be destroyed, everyone who have come into contact with it shall die.'

That does throw the situation into disarray, since Light and Misa had been confined for over fifty days and they obviously did not use a Death Note during that time.

So if L were to trust that rule, Light and Misa were not the First and Second Kira.

However, he just had the feeling that those two rules were completely made up.

This is it then, the plan that was formed by Kira some time ago was beginning to take shape.

"So the case is over?"

L didn't answer the younger detective and turned to face the death god that stood behind them, eerily watching their every move.

"So this book indeed have the ability to take lives?"

"Yes," it answered.

L watched it carefully as he asked the next question.

"All the rules stated in here are true?"

The death god named Rem was silent for a beat, before confirming, "Yes, all the rules stated are true."

"Thank you," L said, turned back to the front and resumed staring at the book.

"Ryuuzaki?"

"The second last rule stated that if the users do not continuously utilize the Death Note every thirteen days will die," he announced, "Light-kun and Amane Misa had been in confinement for at least fifty days with no way of using it."

"Therefore, Light-kun and Misa are no longer suspected of being Kira."

He turned to face everyone else in the room.

"Light-kun is therefore free to go."

Saying that, he got off his chair and unlocked the cuff on Light's wrist, before unlocking the one on his own wrist.

Light muttered a soft thanks.

L turned back to the desk and left the metal chain on it.

"Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, Light-kun?"

L turned to face him, his tone holding familiarity though he was pretty sure he didn't know him anymore.

The dark eyes settled onto him, almost detached as Light stated, "I would like to stay behind to aid with the case."

"Light?" Soichiro sounded surprised, he had expected Light to want to return home after being cooped up at the investigation building for almost five months.

"You know, to tie up any loose ends."

L stared at Light in an almost challenging way, his eyes black and guarded, before uttering, "Light-kun should go home and see his family."

"But-"

"Please," L said, "You can return tomorrow morning if you'd like."

And with that, L dismissed him without another word. Light looked quite surprised that L had left him behind just like that, before going silent, a hint of betrayal on his face.

L then proceeded to send the others home, stating that he would like to study the notebook a bit more and perhaps begin to close the case.

Truthfully, he couldn't bear to see Light anymore.

He can't pretend to treat it as Light if he was no longer there.

Is that what Light had talked about some time ago?

That he might no longer remain himself.

 _Have he always known?_

L slumped in his chair, his tea untouched and turning cold as he stared vacantly at the accursed book that is the Death Note, sensing the shinigami's yellow eyes on him.

He ignored it as his mind slowly wandered back to what Light had made him promise that same night, his panic-stricken voice ringing in his mind.

 _'Stop me, please.'_

How am I supposed to stop you when we've landed in this state?

He admitted that he had grown more attached to Light than he had initially thought.

L drew his legs closer to himself, huddling up in a fetal position.

 _How can I keep my promise?_

* * *

Light sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window as the dark scenery sped past.

Soichiro was glancing at his son from time to time, awkwardly wondering how he would begin to ask the question.

"So, uh," he cleared his throat as Light's eyes flickered to settle on him, "You and Ryuuzaki alright back there?"

"I suppose," Light said distantly, turning back to look out the window.

He worried that the two had gotten into a fight somehow, which would explain the tension he felt between them earlier and from Light now.

Light must've sensed his unvoiced question and muttered, "We're fine, dad. There was just a bit of a misunderstanding earlier."

"This has nothing to do with the case, right?"

"I don't know," Light sighed, "Maybe he's just disappointed that Higuchi had suddenly died in the middle of it all."

Soichiro turned to his son, where he steadily stared out like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"He is very curious after all."

"Uh, I see."

The rest of the drive ended in silence.

Soichiro did not see the dark smile that slowly spread on his son's face, or the way his eyes seem to shine red in his reflection.

All he thought about was how strangely reserved he had suddenly become, as if the Light he's seeing right now is a different person from the Light that hugged him a mere five days ago.

Light smiled knowingly at his reflection.

 _And he'll never know._


	13. Resolve

L wandered around in the darkened building, hands stuffed deep into his pockets, his posture more hunched over than usual.

The shinigami had disappeared, though it seemed that Rem had not left the building, seemingly staying close to the notebook that is currently locked in a case of reinforced glass.

This made L wonder if there are more rules that was not mentioned in the acquired Death Note but his thoughts are replaced by many others demanding his immediate attention.

He sighed and wearily leaned against the wall, in a blind spot of the cameras.

He wouldn't want Watari to worry if he sees this, would he?

Contrary to what others believe, L had a rather routine sleep schedule.

He would stay up for about seventy-two hours at a time, before sleeping for five hours to recharge.

That was adequate for him.

This, however, is way past that time.

L had not been asleep for four days and running.

He was tired, yes.

But he couldn't find it in himself to fall asleep, he mind whirling about in circles, around the same set of questions but never found the answer.

It was like when he was left confused about Light many months ago.

But worse.

His brain kept settling on the younger man, their relationship, the changes he have seen, the despair, the longing.

 _The promise._

Light had hinted to him that a way to perhaps stop Kira was to kill him altogether.

To do that, L would have to look into the secrets of the Death Note and find something among it.

However, he found it odd that Light had left the biggest piece of evidence willingly in his hands.

He had wanted to stay, yes.

But he had left too easily.

This made L think that Kira was unafraid because his plans are already set in place.

Or it was possibly a bluff so that L wouldn't start on capturing the real Kira.

But there is a huge possibility that it is the former.

Also, there is an uncertain player in hand.

The _shinigami._

It seemed to be neutral, though L felt as if it was on Kira's side.

There are too many unanswered questions regarding the shinigami and L felt that it would be unwise for him to pry.

That is a death god after all.

He's treading dangerous waters here.

L sighed again, not quite knowing what to do.

There must be another way, right?

One where he can stop Light but not kill him.

He found he couldn't bear the thought of Light dead.

 _I'd rather it was me._

* * *

Ominous cracks sounded, echoing about the room.

L turned to find the white shinigami slowly walking into the room through the wall.

Rem regarded him silently with its bright yellow eyes, before staring at the space above L's head.

The detective wondered what on earth it was looking at, as he broke the silence, "Your name is Rem, correct?"

"Yes," it said, as it settled its eyes directly on him again.

"May I ask questions?"

The death god stared quietly at him, shifting ever so slightly that L could hear small creaks and groans coming from its bones.

"Yes."

"And will you answer?"

"Depends on what I am able to disclose."

L nodded, somewhat satisfied.

"Are there more than one death gods?"

Rem looked mildly puzzled, before answering, "Yes."

Then there is a high possibility that there are more than one Death Note, since it is supposed to be the tool of a death god after all.

"What do they gain from the usage of the Death Note?"

Rem regarded him suspiciously, "The human's remaining lifespan."

"Will it affect a person's lifespan if they use it?"

"No."

"Have there been humans that use the Death Note before this?"

Rem considered whether to answer, before deeming it safe to say, "I believe so."

L nodded silently, thinking to himself.

"Are there any long term effects from the usage of the Death Note?"

Some kind of recognition pass Rem's eyes and L was hoping for an answer when it said, "That is unknown. No human have ever used the Death Note for a long period of time for any effects to be observed."

L was mildly disappointed, before muttering, "I see."

As he turned away, Rem's eyes flickered to watch something above L's head.

It then studied him silently while L was absorbed in other thoughts.

While he was distracted, Rem slowly made its way towards him.

L started when a shadow loomed over him.

He stared up as Rem lowered its head to peer at him and L was perturbed that the shinigami hadn't smelled like rot and flesh like he'd first thought.

Maybe because it was mostly made of bones.

"Yes?" L uttered, his voice coming out smaller than he had intended to.

Rem stared at him in almost a glare, before slowly backing away.

"You remind me of a shinigami I knew," it said, before slowly walking through the wall and out of the room, leaving L with yet another puzzle.

 _What on earth?_

L couldn't help but wonder if he'd actually looked ridiculous enough to resemble a shinigami.

Perhaps he does.

L stood there in silence, staring at the spot where he'd last seen Rem.

He was not any closer to a solution than before but resolve coursed through him the first time that day.

The detective treaded in a hurried gait back towards the workroom, his mind beginning to formulate some sort of plan.

Hopefully, he'll be able to accomplish what he'd agreed to.

All for Light.

That's all that matters.

* * *

The next day, the taskforce members returned, expecting L to start wrapping up the case since Kira is dead.

He asked for them to craft up reports and organize records regarding the Higuchi and Yotsuba episodes so that he could send them to the Interpol and finally declare the case closed.

L hardly spoke with Light and seemed to avoid talking to him as much as possible, giving the younger man jobs to occupy him and then occupy himself with other things.

The others found it strange and thought they had another falling out.

Or perhaps it was apparent that they are going to part ways once the case is over, since their closeness had been blatantly clear to everyone halfway through this whole thing.

They then felt slightly dispirited that they are all going to part when this case is truly over.

Regardless of what they had said, they did enjoy working with the detective and the chief's son.

So they continued their work in silence, a single solemn agreement unspoken.

* * *

The day was almost over.

Light carried his reports over to hand in to L, when he noticed that the detective was nowhere to be found, his half-eaten ice cream melted into a pool in his bowl.

Puzzled, he asked the others if they have seen him.

They looked just as surprised as he did, none have noticed when L have left the room or know where he would be found.

Light seemed to be at a lost for words for a few moments, before leaving his pile of papers on L's desk and left the room.

When he did, he could hear a muffled rumbling of a downpour outside, the soundproof walls of the workroom didn't allow him to know of it.

Light took the lift up as high as it would go, before heading for the stairwell and climbing remaining way, ending up on the roof.

He opened the door and walked out, his dark eyes settling on what he'd been searching for.

L stood out in the open, eyes vacant as he barely registered the cold rain spilling onto him and dripping off his body in streams.

His dark, messy hair was flattened from the rain, the black locks clumping together, ending in points that weep clear droplets.

His shirt and jeans are soaked through, sticking to his skin and showing his spindly form more than usual.

Light looked puzzled, before he called out to the detective.

"Ryuuzaki!"

L seemed to hear his alias being called and slowly turned, setting his uninterested eyes on Light.

"What are you doing out in the rain?" Light asked.

L didn't react for a while, before cupping his ear and gestured for Light to say it again.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

L didn't seem to hear.

Light then gave up, shielding his hair uselessly with an arm and braving the storm.

He made his way up to L and demanded, "What do you think you're doing out here?"

"I am simply enjoying the weather," he answered nonchalantly.

"What the hell," Light scoffed, seemingly angry, "Stop joking."

L studied him for a while, as Light stared back at him.

"Have you ever told the truth in your life, Light-kun?"

If Light was surprised, he didn't give any indication as he chuckled, "What are you talking about?"

"Answer me, Light-kun."

There was no power behind the demand, just a tired resignation.

Light was silent for a bit, before saying, "I would rather not hurt someone with the truth, L."

L narrowed his eyes at him, seeming to catch something in that statement.

"I see."

L then turned his head to the sky, allowing the water to shower upon his pale face, his eyes closed.

The rain grew increasingly chilling, or rather L had hardly felt it until Light had joined him.

It was unbearably cold.

And incredibly lonely.

"We're both soaked," L said, lowering his head and facing Light, "We should get back inside."

"And whose fault is that," Light demanded.

L looked at him, before lowering his head and softly uttering.

" _I am sorry."_

* * *

They both settled in a large hall, where the rain could still be seen rampaging outside, causing the glass beyond the walkway to rattle slightly.

Light was frantic to dry himself off, wiping off his face and hair particularly, his soaked shoes left abandoned on the steps.

L merely stood slightly behind him, a towel draped over his head as he stared at Light with a forlorn expression on his face.

"That was quite the rainstorm, isn't it," he said in his deadpan and slightly solemn tone.

Light hardly noticed as he remarked, "Yeah, it wouldn't have been terrible if you hadn't stood outside there like a madman."

L observed him slightly, wide eyes tracing over his form as he muttered, "I'm sorry."

Light proceeded to ignore him and worry at his hair.

L silently stepped down the stairs that Light sat on, seemingly indecisive on whether to talk to him or just keep silent.

In the end, he went to kneel in front of Light and took one of his bare foot in his hands, covered by the towel that had been on his head.

Light's eyes flew open at the sudden contact, gaping at the detective.

"What are you doing?"

L slowly lifted his head, the torpidity shown by him more alarming than usual as he said, "Light-kun seemed to be rather eager in drying himself off, so I thought I could lend a hand."

"There's no need for that, Ryuuzaki," Light gasped, beginning to pull his foot out of L's grasp.

He didn't notice the fleeting emotion that passed through L's eyes at the mention of his alias.

"Please, allow me to do so," L insisted almost gently.

"That's the least I can do to atone."

Light stared at him, puzzled.

"I am quite skilled at massages as well," L smiled thinly, as if that statement would seal the deal.

"Fine," Light said reluctantly, "Do whatever you want."

L smiled at that, beginning to work the stiffness out of Light's foot.

It took a few tries before Light stopped grunting at the sudden pain caused by L's persistent kneading and began to relax in his hold.

He let L do his other foot as well, both of them more or less dried by the time L spoke, "I believe we will part soon, Light-kun."

Light lifted his head and stared at him, surprised at the words he had spoken.

L's cell then rang quite suddenly, breaking the silence.

L stood and took the call, before turning to Light.

"I believe we have a lead."

Light was confused by his statement, but L was already making off before he could begin to question it.

* * *

They hurried down the corridor, the rain still splattering against the glass windows.

"Hold on, Ryuuzaki," Light stalked after him, "What do you mean that we have a lead?"

"As you've heard," L answered in an uncommitted manner.

"I thought the case was closed?"

"Apparently not quite," L said as the doors to the workroom opened for him.

The others were just as confused as they began to question L.

"What's going on, Ryuuzaki?"

"I have taken it upon myself to investigate the Death Note," he said, noting the melted bowl of chocolate ice cream on his desk, "And I believe it is prudent to prove the authenticity of the rules stated in the notebook."

He noticed Light going rigid behind him.

"Wait?" Matsuda sounded alarmed, "So you are going to test out the notebook? If the rules are real, then you would have to write a name every thirteen days as long as you live!"

L turned his gaze upon him, "Yes, I am going to test out the Death Note. However, I will not be the one that will write names in it. Rather, a criminal that is scheduled to be executed in thirteen days, he will write another criminal's name and we will wait to see whether he will actually perish if he does not use the notebook in that period of time."

"Hold on," Soichiro's tone was full of accusation, "You _still_ suspect Light to be Kira?"

L peered blandly at him, before muttering, "Yes."

"RYUUZAKI!"

"We cannot blindly trust the rules in the Death Note, Yagami-san," L said, "Although it is a weapon with supernatural origins, I find that we still need actual prove."

Soichiro was seething, his glare sharp and bright.

"Is that not how it should be done, Yagami-san?"

Light's father reached forward and grabbed onto L's collar, trembling with rage.

"Dad!"

"Chief!"

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the room was plunged into darkness.

Surprised, Soichiro loosened the hold on L's shirt, allowing him to pull free as a red light fill the workspace.

"A power outage?"

L hopped into his chair and reached for his microphone, "Watari, please report."

Silence.

L pressed the button and tried again, slightly worried this time, "Watari, what has happened?"

There was nothing but static on the speaker.

"Watari-"

Everyone except for L jumped when a blinding white light flashed onto the screens.

All of them have the have the words that read: **All Data Deletion**.

"Ryuuzaki, what is happening?" Soichiro demanded.

What came out of L was a quiet breathe of, "No…"


	14. Shatter

"Watari!"

Aghast, L stared unblinkingly at the screens with his wide eyes, pale hands grasping onto the arms of his chair.

 **All Data Deletion**

The three words glared at him, containing all that he needed to know and all that he didn't want to know.

Watari…

The detective slowly lowered his head in silence, his hands clenching into fists.

"Ryuuzaki," Soichiro demanded, where L barely heard his frantic voice, "What is happening?"

"I have instructed Watari," L's voice came out calm, much calmer than he actually feel. There was a constricting sensation in his chest, his heart felt numb.

"To erase all the evidence if something were to happen to him."

The others stared at him in shock, where he continued blankly, "If that is the case, the rest of us are in great danger."

Watari is most likely dead, L thought to himself sadly.

His mentor, his trusted friend.

He was a father figure to him more than anything.

 _Gone…_

That meant Kira must've made his move, but the detective hadn't seen him done anything, having spent the last half an hour within a close proximity of the killer.

What did he missed?

L gasped as he came to a sudden realization, startling the others around him.

He spun around, hoping that his suspicions wasn't accurate.

His eyes settled on an empty spot in the room, where he had seen it standing when he walked in.

"The shinigami!"

The task force understood as they finally took notice of that crucial detail, eyes wide in shock and fear that the most dangerous and mysterious being had disappeared.

Just as he'd thought, the shinigami could not be trusted.

Does that mean that it was on Kira's side and they were simply playing into his hand all along?

In that brief moment, L met Light's dark, severe eyes, like an eerie veil that hid all he knows and see.

His eyes then shone red; whether it was reflecting the state of the room or generated on their own, he couldn't figure it out, as a sudden pain had struck his heart in that very moment.

L tensed and emitted a gasp too soft to be picked up by anyone, as they were too worried and absorbed in the crisis.

They barely even notice him begin to fall out of his chair.

It was only Light that saw him, as he had been watching the detective ever since the start.

L's falling figure reflected in the dark orbs of his eyes.

They suddenly lightened as they grew wide, following L's descend.

* * *

 _"Ryuuzaki!"_

L barely registered the pain when his body struck the ground, he only felt a dull force of the floor on his back that turned out to be warmer and softer than he'd expected.

"Ryuuzaki, pull yourself together!"

Someone… seemed to be calling him.

The voice sounded as though it had come from a distance, obscured ever more as if he's underwater.

Is he drowning?

He could feel air enter his lungs still as he gasped shallowly.

No, no, that wasn't it.

"Ryuuzaki!"

The voice is bothering on desperation, it must be someone he knew.

Then why isn't he saying his real name?

He willed his eyes to focus, seeing a face before him, a set of darkened eyes peering down at him.

Light?

Did Light catch him?

L forced himself to think through the foggy remains of his mind.

Ah, that's right.

He remembered.

L is _dying._

He'd fallen by Kira's hands.

He gasped as another throb of blinding pain wracked his body, felt spasms deep within his chest like someone was ruthlessly crushing the organ. Electricity jolted painfully through his limbs, exhausting him to the point where he laid limply wherever he was.

In Light's arms.

The younger male held his eyes still, L thought he could see them flickering weakly with red.

A trick of the light?

No, no…

No.

Not his Light.

The person watching him…

Not Light…

L wanted to shove him away, twist out of his deceivingly gentle hold.

But his body no longer had strength in them, all used up to deal with the ordeal of impending death.

Those dark eyes held so much anxiety, so much concern.

He almost believed them.

He can't.

He knew he can't.

He wish he could.

L gasped as another jolt of agony stabbed his heart.

His enemy tightened his hold, his lips almost quirking up in an invisible smirk.

L wanted to kill him with his own hands, wipe that ugly smile off of his face.

He can't.

No, he can't.

 _'Promise me, promise me that you will stop me, L.'_

I've… failed.

I can't do it.

Not to my Light.

Light…

L's body seized as another shudder passed through him, the chaos in the room unseen and unheard by his dying senses.

The only thing that existed was him and the man holding him, in the visage of the person he love, but it was Death that hid beneath the beautiful mask.

All because he had failed his promise.

Now Light is gone.

And he will soon follow.

L could clearly see the smile on the other's face now, the crimson glare in his eyes prominent in that moment as he stared down at him with barely any angst.

The way that face had twisted revolted him but it didn't stop him from reaching up weakly to touch his face.

Because it's still Light, even if it wasn't his Light.

The brunette hardly flinched at the contact, his eyes willing – telling L to hurry up and die, for Kira has won.

 _No, not yet._

The light touch turned into a caress, as L ran his cold fingers down his face.

"Light…" he gasped, his voice soft and hoarse.

"Ryuuzaki?" Light tightened his hold, voice thick with anxiety even though his face still retained that sickening smirk.

"I'm-"

He winced as another stab of agony rattled his frame.

L took a shallow breath, before continuing.

"S-sorry."

L noted a slight tilt of the other's head at what he said, the movement scornful and intrigued at the same time.

"I-I'm… sorry…" L repeated, much softer this time as his strength waned.

The face before him blurred, now a mass of indistinct shape and colors.

L barely caught the red glare dying from his gaze, the first drops of darkness melting away into warm brown that grew cold as it took in the sight before it.

L took a final shuddering breath.

Everything darkened…

And then stopped.

* * *

Light was still, staring at the detective's face as his cold hand drooped and fell limply onto his torso.

He didn't move after that and Light felt the warmth seeping out of the body in his arms.

" _Ryuuzaki?"_

His voice was low and quiet, his eyes refusing to tear away from the pale face.

A thought nagged at him at the back of his mind, shouting at him.

Light refused to hear it.

"Hey, Ryuuzaki," Light shook his limp body slightly.

L's head drooped from the movement, curled up as his chin touched his chest.

Light stared wide-eyed at him, dark denial fueling his heart.

His voice took on a broken quality as he shook L weakly, calling out uselessly.

"Ryuuzaki, come on," he muttered, "Stop joking around."

Everyone else in the room was silent, staring at him, unable to break the spell, quite afraid of what doing that might bring.

Gradually, his demands grew louder and louder as L refused to wake up and Soichiro could not bear it any longer.

"Light, stop it."

His son did not hear him, reduced to crying L's false name over and over.

"Light-"

"Ryuuzaki, wake up!" Light shouted, desperation engulfed his form.

"LIGHT!" Soichiro shouted, having reached out and grabbed his son by the shoulders, shaking him, "Get a hold of yourself!"

Light stared up blankly at his father, his clouded eyes settling on his face.

"Dad?"

He gritted his teeth upon hearing Light's fractured and disorientated voice.

"L… Ryuuzaki…" His eyes darted down to the body in his arms.

 _"Why won't he wake up?"_

Soichiro slowly let go of his son.

"Why, Dad?"

Light looked up at him, his imploring eyes heavy and desperate.

"Light…"

His son waited for his answer, one that he refused to conclude on his own.

"He's dead, Light," Soichiro said softly, his frame tense as he watched the impending clarity on his face.

The fog began to clear from his eyes as his father continued, "He died of a heart attack."

 _"Dead…"_ He uttered, his gaze falling away from his father.

Light stared down at L as if seeing him for the first time, his body frozen as what the voice had been shouting hit him at last.

He gasped, unknowingly holding L much tighter than before that the embrace will surely bruise him, if he had still been in the land of the living.

A stinging sensation started up in his chest as he pulled L's cold body closer to himself, shuddering uncontrollably as the first set of tears fall from his eyes.

Soichiro's eyes widened at the sight.

He reached a hand out towards his son, "Light-"

A horrifying wail tore out of Light's throat had stopped him in his tracks, the inhuman cry echoing about the silent room, forcing the others to step back from the source.

Light let out another scream as if his heart was being torn to shreds, squeezing L close to himself, looking as though he was trying to meld their bodies together in a terrible joining.

His cry turned into breathless sobbing as he wept and gasped, whimpering as he buried his face in L's shoulder.

The room was silent for the longest time aside from Light's mourning, as the others either watched without the slightest inkling of what they should do, or anxiously whispering to one another about their course of action, all still in shock of their loss.

Light gradually stopped sobbing after that, going almost as still as the dead detective, his eyes staring at nothing in particular as tears slowly flowed and then eventually ceased.

* * *

They had to pry Light away from L after that, settling him on the couch and having Matsuda offering him a cup of tea.

He simply held onto the tea, blank eyes staring at a spot on the floor as they dealt with the matters surrounding L's death.

Soichiro was staring worriedly at his son the whole time, noting that he held onto the hot teacup with both hands, disregarding the heat that would surely burn his skin.

He was distracted by Matsuda asking him what they should do from then on, the young bachelor almost as distraught as Light himself.

When he turned back, Light was no longer there, his tea left abandoned on the table.

"Light?!"

Panicked, Soichiro rushed out of the room, his sole aim was to find his only son and hope that he hadn't decided to do something foolish.

One death was enough for him in a lifetime.

* * *

Light found himself in the lower levels of the building, walking swiftly down the empty corridor.

He turned a corner before opening the door to the archives, where it slid open with a hiss.

In the middle of the room was a mount of dirt and sticking out of it is a black notebook that he found much too familiar.

Light slowly made his way towards it, face blank as he picked the book up, lightly brushing off the dust resting on top of it.

There was no writing to label the book, but he knew full well what this is.

He flipped it open, seeing about a dozen names sprawled onto the white pages, all written in English.

Light thumbed through the pages until he stumbled upon the last two names.

Quillsh Wammy and…

Larry Lawliet.

No wonder he had called himself 'L'.

Light let out a lifeless chuckle at that amusing fact.

He studied the crudely written name, lines crooked and untidy.

He thought it was better off not knowing it at all.

Wet spots appeared on the white pages along L's name.

Light wiped his tears away with his sleeve as his shoulders began to shake.

A soft laugh reached his ears.

Light lowered his arm, slowly turning towards the mirror inside the room.

Kira stood in it, eyes shining bright red as he cackled at Light's misery.

A dark fire rose inside of him.

Light made his way towards the mirror, the anger pouring off him in waves as he glared at Kira's form.

"How scary," the red-haired man mocked, having not stopped laughing ever since Light had heard him, "And what are you going to do to me?"

Light's form trembled as he slammed his palms into the mirror, causing it to shake.

His reflection barely flinched, much to his annoyance.

"You can't touch me, Light," he taunted, lips spreading into a wide smile as Kira began to laugh again.

All of Light's self-control snapped.

He snarled and drew his fist back, smashing it into the accursed reflection full-force.

The glass surface shattered with a deafening crash, web-like lines appearing as it cracked right before the shards began falling onto the floor, tinkling as each piece struck the marble surface.

What remained of the mirror showed half of Kira's face, the cracks showing a disjointed sight of his face, his eerie red eye showing up in each piece surrounding the dent that Light's fist had made.

His reflection shifted as he laughed, the cackles echoing around the room like it had came from a malevolent spirit as Light glared and glared at it, anger, sorrow, frustration and hatred blackening his decaying heart.

As he watched, the eye showing in the mirror began to transform, the vermillion shade gradually fading away into their original light brown. The eyes widened, no longer hooded as it stared back at himself.

The red bled out of his hair, changing back into its auburn color and the dark aura about him dissipated like thin smoke.

The reflection blinked, its wide eyes staring out of the broken mirror, gasping as it looked straight into the bright red eyes of the original.

Light stood in front of the shattered mirror, chuckling as his disjointed image placed a tentative hand on the surface, bleeding from the knuckles like he was.

"No…" The reflection pressed more firmly into the surface, face full of fear and shock as he regarded his body that laughed at his predicament.

"Feels terrible doesn't it," he said in a lilted voice, "Trapped outside of yourself."

Kira's reflection began to panic, starting to claw at the surface and letting out pained noises as he touched the pointed shards that remained on the mirror.

"What the hell did you do, Kira?" Light demanded, his eyes dark with fear, "Let me out!"

Kira laughed, before stepping to what divides him from the original, placing a loving, tender hand over the fractured lines.

"No," he said with a smirk, "This body is mine now, you hear me? You are mine."

Horrified, Light backed away, staring at Kira with an unrestrained fear.

His red-eyed body began to chuckle, before it suddenly stopped, gaze flickering to the entrance of the room.

Light could only watch as the twisted face softened into the likeness of his own, before taking on a lost quality, eyes wide and confused as the door opened.

A worried Matsuda stepped in and halted when he saw Light.

He gasped when he saw the shattered mirror in front of the younger man, his hand dripping with dark blood.

"Light!" He exclaimed as he darted towards him, anxious eyes surveying him then taking his injured hand to examine it, "Oh god, what happened?"

'Light' stared at him for a short moment, before shamefully lowering his head.

"I wasn't thinking," he said in a soft voice, "I'm sorry."

"That doesn't matter," Matsuda frantically grabbed a handkerchief out of his pocket to cover Light's bleeding hand, "Shit, why is it bleeding so much?"

'Light' did not say a word, steadily keeping his head down.

"Come on, we should go back," Matsuda said gently, "Your father is worried about you."

'Light' nodded, before letting Matsuda carefully leading him out of the room.

The older man did not see him reveal a smirk, directed only for his reflection to see.

Light watched the scene in silence, deducing that no one else but him is able to see the blood red eyes that his body now has, judging from Matsuda's actions.

He also came to the conclusion that no one could see him as well, just like how they wasn't able to see Kira in his reflections ever since he had appeared to him.

Light stared on helplessly as the door closed behind Matsuda, his body following close behind.

He rested his head against the surface of the mirror, ignoring the pointed pieces that dug into his skin, letting out a sob.

Then, he screamed as he slammed his fists once against the already broken surface, unaffected by his movements like he wasn't there.

Tears fell onto the floor as he wept.

Just like that, Kira had taken his cherished friend and lover interest, before stealing his body away from him, left him with nothing but this cold space in the mirror.

And just like that, Kira had effortlessly impersonated him, fooling everyone that remained.

 _And no one will ever know._

* * *

 **A/N: Oh my, what an ending. Well, be rest assured people, this fic had not reached the end. I repeat, it had not reached the end. In fact, it had just reached the middle, I think. I wonder what kind of entity Kira actually is, though, to be able to such things.**

 **Well, I am thinking of making a QnA section at the end of this story so feel free to post some questions if you'd like and you may see them appearing in that section. Until then, I'll be back, thanks for reading!**


	15. Preamble

The white-haired teen sat crouching in the armchair, facing the much older man who sat across at his desk, his wrinkling face grim.

He had been fiddling around with a ten-sided Rubik's cube when the news was delivered, the reason why the boy was summoned here in the first place.

His gray eyes widened and the partly completed cube dropped from his fingers.

The door crashed open just then, but he barely heard it when he uttered the words that refused to register in his mind.

"L is… _dead_?"

There was a loud gasp behind him, as the older man named Roger peered behind him but couldn't quite muster the will to glare at the other child.

He was just as shaken by the news when it was delivered just over an hour ago.

"What do you mean L is dead?!"

The blonde child who barged into the room stormed forward and stopped just before the desk, glaring at Roger, "Who killed him? How?!"

The older man began to glare at him and gave up on that, resorting to sighing instead.

"I believe you two have heard of 'Kira'?"

"That was about the case that L had decided to investigate, I presume, the one where criminals around the world have been dying of heart attacks." the white-haired child said blandly, having gotten over his initial shock.

Roger nodded, "That was the one he was working on, and he had perished in the midst of it."

"Kira?" He asked.

He nodded again, "Confirmed death, by heart attack."

The blonde child looked puzzled, "And there was no news of it? Last I checked, L was still in Japan overlooking the case."

"I assume that is not the actual L," the teen said, getting off his chair to pick up his toy, "Rather, someone had taken his place as L, pretending to be him."

The blonde glared at the other child, "And what do you know of this imposter, smarty-pants?"

"He is presumably put in place to avoid causing disorder by the Japanese Police," he answered, "You are aware of the consequences if it came out to the public that L was dead, don't you?"

"You sure know it all, don't you?" He snarked.

"Near, Mello," Roger cut in with a stern voice, "I do not appreciate you two fighting in my office so you'd better stop it this instant!"

They both went silent immediately, but not before the blonde let out a huff and turned away.

The aged man sighed, before stating, "This is partly what I called you here about, L have currently yet to choose his successor and have not stated who that might be before his untimely death."

"You two are the final candidates for the official title of L so-"

"Hold on," the blonde interrupted.

"What is it, Mello?"

"You only asked for Near," he said, steadily glaring at him now, "You did not intent to choose me for the title of L, did you?"

Roger did not answer, simply staring back at him.

"You'd think to choose him because he's the first in this orphanage, isn't he?!" Mello accused, "You did not think I was fit for L's title?"

"That was not the case," Roger said, "You are eligible for the title but-"

"But he was a _better_ candidate than I am," Mello finished for him.

Near had simply watched the exchange in disinterest, completing the puzzle before jumbling it up again.

Roger was silent now, looking back at the child with perhaps a hint of guilt.

Mello huffed again, "Fine, I get that. You're going to hand the title to him _only_ , I wouldn't have known if not for the fact that I came here immediately after the announcement."

"He can go tackle this Kira case on his own," Mello said, turning towards the door, "He doesn't need my help, he's the best after all."

"Now, Mello-"

"And what of Quillsh?" Near asked suddenly, "I remembered he left for Japan together with L."

"He is dead as well," Roger said, taking on a slightly more saddened look.

Mello had halted in his exit at the news, before quickly leaving, slamming the door behind him.

"I see," Near said, lowering his head slightly before looking back at the older man, "So I will be handed the case as Mello had guessed?"

"Yes," Roger replied, "I will hand to you the information that L had gathered on Kira before leaving for Japan, I'm afraid you might have to obtain the rest on your own. I would advise you find suitable candidates to ally by your side and start work as soon as possible."

"Understood," Near said, determination shining through his otherwise dull eyes, "I will capture Kira as soon as possible."

 _"He will not get away with what he'd done."_

* * *

It had been a few months ever since the upsetting event of L's death.

Soon after that, Light had mentioned that he wanted to take over the position of L and continue the investigation for Kira.

It wasn't a surprising reaction for the Task Force, but they had been quite worried, especially Soichiro and Matsuda, as the young man had recently experienced a loss, a huge loss from what they can see.

No one had ever heard such a terrifying noise before and they didn't expect to hear it from the usually calm and collected Light as he held the dead detective in his arms.

The noise haunted them still and Matsuda watched the younger man with all of his attentiveness, as he could clearly tell that L meant a lot to him.

His right hand is fresh out of a bandage, from a wound that needed a few stitches from striking the glass, where a few visible scars had remained.

The bachelor was more than alarmed when he saw that Light had harmed himself in that way and relieved that they had treated that immediately as he was admittedly freaked out by how much his knuckles were bleeding.

It wasn't much, actually but it was still quite an amount to Matsuda.

It terrifies him to think that Light might've hurt himself even more if he had not found him in time.

Although he was puzzled why Light had decided to punch the mirror in the first place.

He was aware that grief can drive people to do senseless things so he didn't question it much, it was only a thought that popped up from time to time that he didn't dwell much about.

Still, he worries.

For one thing, Light had went back to his calm and collected self a few days after L had passed away and said that he wanted to take on his position and hunt Kira down.

It was understandable that he wanted to dive into it as soon as possible, as Light did seem like the type of person to occupy himself with work and a goal to try and desensitize himself to his emotions.

As soon as that was said, Soichiro had gotten the approval of the higher ups for them to continue the Kira case and their headquarters were moved to a smaller place.

Then he had been working non-stop ever since, diving into L's previous records and trying to dig up new evidence of Kira who remains at large.

Soichiro had since then kept a close eye on his son after that, his protectiveness grown much more extensive than when L was alive.

Matsuda was helping with that as well, afraid that at some point Light might suddenly fall into the depths of despair over the fact that L is dead.

However, something else had been bugging Matsuda for a while now.

He noticed that something seemed off about the young man.

Light didn't seem like the same person after L had died.

In the literal sense of the word.

Sure, his behavior and habits were still the same, but it just seemed as though there's a dark aura surrounding him constantly.

He has an ominous feel around him, much like he was the devil himself.

Matsuda couldn't quite explain that feeling but whenever Light is close, he would fight the urge to shiver despite the fact that it wasn't even cold out.

He also noticed that Light had become distant from everyone around him, even though he still carried with him his politeness and remained the affable person he is.

Matsuda can't explain why he felt so.

He just _sensed_ it somehow.

He chalked it up to Light trying to cope with his loss, but it certainly didn't feel quite right.

Matsuda mentioned this to his father once and was told off immediately, Soichiro brushing it off like he was trying to spread false rumors about his son.

He didn't speak of it afterwards.

But he could still feel it, like a serpent coiling in the darkness of his mind.

Matsuda would then turn to find Light sitting on his chair, pitch-black eyes staring at his computer screen and scanning over the information written.

His gaze then flickered over to the bachelor, who immediately turned away and gave an excuse to escape to the pantry.

He didn't want to admit it but…

Light really scares him quite a bit, these days.

* * *

"Are you going to be alright, son?"

Light flashed a reassuring smile and said, "I'll be fine, dad."

Soichiro didn't look at all assured as he sat in Light's new living room discussing about his accommodation another time.

It wasn't long ago that Light mentioned that he would like to move out of the Yagami house and share an apartment with his girlfriend, Misa.

He was quite puzzled, he thought Light said that he loves L and was going to break up with the model soon.

Light then mentioned that he hadn't had the heart to tell Misa about that and then solemnly said that he wanted to try and forget about this whole thing.

Not that he was going to lose sight of why he was going after Kira in L's place, and he did mention he wanted to give it another try with Misa.

Soichiro was skeptical about that but he didn't try to stop him. He wasn't good with feelings and was certainly not good with dealing with his son's or daughter's.

He was worried, and grew much more worried after that day, where Light had suddenly disappeared out of his sight after such an intense display of grief, only to return with a bleeding hand where Light had inflicted harm on himself, that he was told.

He had never seen his son quite so lost and distressed.

He was determined not to let that happen again.

With all that, Soichiro had grown to look over his son with all of his abilities, he can't bear to have Light hurt like that again as long as he lives.

So he smiled thinly and uttered, "Promise me that you'll stay safe, son."

Light looked straight at him, smiled and said, "I promise, Dad."

Soichiro caught his gaze and found himself with a puzzling thought.

Have Light's eyes always been this dark?

There have been so many things happening lately that he hadn't noticed when the color have changed from amber to almost jet-black, looking like there was a certain darkness swirling beneath their depths.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Light asked, noticing his sudden silence.

The older man snapped out of it and flashed a quick smile, "No, nothing."

"It's getting late," Light said, standing up, "I'll see you to the door."

Soichiro nodded mutely, following his son.

He was on the other side of the front door when he asked, "Would you visit Mum and Sayu soon?"

"I will," Light said well manneredly, "I'll try to find time off the investigation and I'll be there."

Soichiro couldn't help another puzzling thought that came into his head.

Light seemed to be more polite?

No.

He is only being polite.

Have he always been this distant?

It may be due to the loss, he told himself.

But something felt absolutely and entirely wrong.

"I'll be taking my leave, then," Soichiro said, being awkward all of a sudden at his discovery.

Light didn't seem to notice as he smiled, "Good night, Dad."

"Good night, son."

Soichiro began to walk towards the lift as Light locked up his door.

* * *

Light strode back into the room and sighed, before stretching his neck and hearing the satisfying cracks of the action.

"The old man is becoming overbearing," he seemed to utter to himself, "He's giving me a mind to get rid of him."

"Don't you dare!"

Light turned towards the sudden snarl, finding his reflection glaring at him from the mirror.

"And what can you do about it?" 'Light' taunted, his eyes flashing red only for his image. "When your body is all mine to control."

Light let out a noise of frustration, glaring at Kira heatedly from the mirror.

"Such a papa's boy," Kira snickered, "That old man won't let me out of his sight for a single moment ever since your gay lover is dead. Oh, what an absolute pain."

Light started when Kira started making his way towards his desk where he kept a Death Note hidden in it.

He flipped the book open to an empty page and picked up one of his fountain pens.

"Let's see, So-i-chi-ro-u…"

"Stop it," Light began banging on the surface frantically, "Stop it!"

Kira penned down part of his name then tapped the pen against his lower lip, "Perhaps not… He does keep the those rats off my tail after all."

Light watched in silent relief as Kira closed the book, "Maybe he is useful to keep around, in case anyone dares to question me."

Kira tossed the pen that clattered noisily across the desk, speaking to no one in particular, "Don't think that I did not notice."

He sighed, then turned and leaned against the table, grinning at his trapped reflection, "But soon that won't matter, once Kira becomes Justice, they will no longer be able to challenge me."

Light glared at him as Kira started chuckling uncontrollably, then exploded into sudden laughter.

"Don't you think so, Light?"


	16. Metronome

Near

It wasn't long that the young detective managed to get the help of the President of the United States, revealing that the original L is dead and the content he managed to salvage from L's case files, the only parts that he didn't manage to erase. He found evidence that pointed to Higuchi as Kira and also the existence of the a killer notebook.

He also spoke to the President about the fact that there is now a fake L who's in charge of the Kira Case in Japan and the reason why they had decided to take this course of action.

The President then proceeded to back him in the creation of the Special Provision for Kira – or the SPK, formed by a group that totaled of fifteen people from the CIA and the FBI.

Currently, their base is erected in the city of New York, where they spent days gathering all available information regarding the Kira Case.

They intended to work separately from the Task Force in Japan as Near isn't warming up to the idea of working with someone who claimed to be L, even though his presence was necessary at the time.

Near was quite awestruck to learn of the supernatural tool at first, a thing that held so much power, granting one the ability to kill someone from merely wielding a pen.

Then he remembered that it was used to kill the lives of thousands, including L himself and was repulsed by the fact that the notebook had fallen into the vile hands that belonged to the First, the Second Kira and Higuchi.

He reviewed the news and information surrounding the Kira investigation, media activities in the past two years and investigated the big figures in the Yotsuba Corporation, who all had perished a mere month ago.

Near didn't doubt that it was Kira's doing as all six members had suddenly died by heart attacks in the middle of a meeting.

There was limited information regarding the killer notebook which led Near to study evidence collected while L was working with the NPA, creating various hypothesis and putting them against the data collected.

From that, he managed to deduce a couple of things on his own, such as the ability to kill with just a face and perhaps the existence of supernatural entities.

The white-haired teen sat on the floor in the middle of the main room, surrounded by at least a dozen Newton's cradle of various sizes and frames, with three of them swinging at the same beat, creating a chorus of steady, constant clicking.

Meanwhile, the SPK members are busy looking through websites and news relating to Kira, both the current and the old as they searched for what they might've missed and for new information that might arise.

The small teen reached for the fourth device and lifted one of the metal balls, waiting to release it so that it swings at the exact same timing for the other three.

He did the same for the fifth, this time deciding to pick up two, followed by the sixth, the seventh and so on, wide gray eyes observing the movements.

Soon, he had all the Newton's cradle in motion, collectively emitting various paces of swinging.

He then took great interest in one of them, with five silver balls that gleamed in the artificial lights, hanging from a bright brass frame supported with a rich mahogany base.

He varied the swinging in it, sometimes splitting the balls in twos and threes, sometimes removing the middle one from the group and staring as the outer balls swung just slightly more vigorously.

It was then that one of his men that he knew by the name of Elliot Schmidt walked up to him.

Near remembered that he the most gifted and knowledgeable in the realm of computer systems and coding on their team, an extremely useful asset.

"Yes?" He addressed the man, not taking his eyes off his toys.

"Sir, I was looking through our database and found something quite interesting," He said with all seriousness, "There appears to be strange codes within L's case files, I believe it's pointing towards the existence of a hidden file."

Near raised his head curiously, not having heard or discovered this fact while he was looking through it some weeks ago.

"It seemed to be well-protected by several advanced security software," Elliot explained, "It was almost completely hidden and undetectable, I barely found it myself."

A secret folder, coupled with high security at that. It was plainly obvious that there would be information that L did not intent for anyone to discover except for himself.

Near deduced that the files will most likely contain the missing evidence that L had uncovered during the Kira Investigation, twirling his finger in a lock of his hair as he pondered.

"Do you think you'll be able to gain access to it?"

"Yes, sir," Elliot said, "However, that would take a substantial amount of time, maybe about a month or two."

Near nodded in understanding, "I would like you to begin on it, and thank you for your hard work."

The SPK member gave a affirmative nod and returned to his computer in order to do so.

Near returned his attention to the devices that are still clicking away, absorbed in other thoughts.

A secret folder…

Near wasn't the best when it comes to computers, but he was good enough. He was quite puzzled that he had not discovered the codes himself, even though he had looked through L's files over and over again and memorized everything on it until he knew the whole thing just like the back of his hand.

There is the possibility that he could've missed it but Near have the strangest feeling that it probably had not been there when he looked through it the first time.

A whole chunk of code right under his nose.

Near refused to believe he was able to miss all that.

There was no one else but he and the SPK that are able to get to it, he didn't think that they'll try to tamper with those.

That left no one else but L himself.

But the man was already long dead.

So this didn't make sense to him. However, Near found that he had no other explanation for it.

Perhaps he actually missed it, then.

Soon, he found the numerous ticking noises to be a nuisance and stopped them all from swinging, before staring straight at the one that he had been playing around with.

Near lifted the last ball, before releasing it and watching as it started moving again, emitting a constant, regular clicking noise.

Just like a metronome, he thought.

It was just a matter of time before things start to happen.

* * *

Light

 _Tick, tock, tick, tock._

Light stared at the scene before him with dull, tired eyes.

On the other side of the glass, the day went on as usual.

The clock on the far wall showed that it was nearing eight, its hands moving slowly round to that time.

The Task Force would come then, arriving one by one into the room that had been designated as the workroom, multiple monitors on and running in front of them, showing various statistics, the news and all things that seemed irrelevant to him by this time.

They would do their best to research and bring up things that may remotely point to the identity of Kira, having been largely active these days.

They then looked over the information, turn it over in their heads time and time again, with 'Light' pitching in as well.

It would slowly be realized that the piece of data was too out there, or too vague or straight up useless.

They would then scratch that off and it's back to the drawing board, all happening within a few hours.

Basically, they're clueless.

All the work they're doing to catch a single man that's right under their noses all along.

Light cast his gaze upon Kira, who seemed perfectly content sitting in his place, bored eyes staring at the screen that shone with hidden amusement at the fact that no one knows a thing.

It's all a game to him.

Light knew that Kira could lie just as well as him, softening his expression while surrounded by the others and spoke pleasantly, smiling and nodding just at the right times even though the fact that he did all this might be annoying him to no end.

He had seen the lifted look on his face when everyone had gone home and he was left alone, free to appear however he liked.

His face would harden then, red gaze pointed right at Light as if to gloat at him and at the same time slightly annoyed that he had to keep up all this façade and perfectly imitating him, allowing nothing less.

Despite that, Light knew Kira found it rather fun as well.

It appalled him that he was able to guess at some of Kira's behaviors and moods, how the way his lips quirked up slightly was due to amusement that everyone around him are such idiots and that was all he could do to keep from bursting out into laughter.

Or how he would tap his foot against the floor as a Kira supporting program showed on TV where everyone was watching, anticipating the events that played out and quite delighted to see his fame in action.

One thing that led to this was because of how astoundingly similar he is to Light. The only thing that divides them was that Kira had no conscience nor any remorse for what he'd done.

There was also nothing that Light could do but observe what was put before the glass, most of them were Kira himself.

It probably shouldn't be surprising that Light would know the red-eyed man like he knows himself.

That doesn't mean he have to like it.

In fact, he hates it.

He hated the fact that he could do nothing but watch Kira play with the people that he knew, even his own father, while stepping closer and closer to becoming an actual god.

Light had screamed, he had strike the surface multiple times, just for someone, anyone to notice him, to know something was wrong.

Of course, no one know, they didn't even see anything, clueless about the true nature of the Light before them. Not even his father was able to tell.

He had long since given up on it, watching mutely from the other side of the mirror.

 _Tick, tock, tick, tock._

Time slowly passes and the rage within him subsided, the need to avenge L was gone when it was clear he cannot do anything to Kira, he had mocked him about it every time he tried.

Every plan that he had formed in his head to escape this dark prison had slowly decayed and disappeared over time.

Light felt as though it was he himself that is in the process of decaying.

Day by day he felt increasingly tired and weaker, his eyes growing stale as they did nothing but look at what's happening outside, unable to do anything.

He felt like he would cease to exist one day.

Looking out at Kira beginning to grin at his screen as Matsuda once again scampered off, he let out a silent breath.

 _What does it even matter?_

Light slumped against the replica of the chair that Kira sat on, dim eyes staring unseeingly into the dark space above.

 _Tick, tock, tick, tock._

The sound of time moving reaches his ear, becoming ever louder by the second.

 _It doesn't matter anymore._

* * *

A movement beyond the glass catches his eyes.

Light's gaze flickered down, seeing his father making his way to Kira.

 _Dad…_

His father and Kira exchanged a few words, discussing about the case at hand.

Kira's eyes gleamed with veiled annoyance, everyone including his father blind to it except for him.

"When are you going to visit home, Light?" Soichiro asked then, concerned eyes looking into Kira's.

 _Home._

Light didn't remember the last time he had been there, he didn't remember the last time he saw his mother and sister.

He missed them terribly.

"Sorry, Dad," Kira said, "I've been a bit busy lately, so I don't think I'll be visiting for a while."

"Light…"

"I'm sorry, Dad."

Light watched as his father was let down once again, despair slowly taking up his features.

 _Oh, Dad…_

The same despair on Soichiro's face was mirrored on his own.

If only he'd known.

The man in front of him was not at all his son.

Slowly, Light began to feel something ignite inside of him.

He realized that he didn't want to give up, he had to at least try to find out how to get out of here or let them know.

Even if he was to get destroyed in the process, they had to know.

He can't stand them, especially his family, being deluded like that.

Away from Soichiro's sight, Kira's eyes began to narrow, before they flickered over to look at his reflection, finding Light glaring straight at him, his eyes burning brighter than they had in weeks, looking like anything but a dying man.

His lips twitched as he suppressed a snarl and tormenting the young man.

Light saw murder in his eyes.

Unfortunately for Kira, Light wasn't going to let him win that easily.

 _You'll have to try harder than that._

A ringing jarred him out of his thoughts.

Both Light and Kira turned as Soichiro fished his phone out of his pocket, staring in puzzlement at the caller ID then answering it.

"Hello?"

Within ten seconds, Soichiro paled, his eyes wide with worry and fear.

"Dad?"

"Light…" He uttered before staggering back, attracting the attention of the others in the room.

Light watched mutely as Kira got up and placed a hand on his shoulder, seemingly anxious at the strange behavior, "Dad, what's wrong?"

"It's Sayu…" He gulped, before speaking more steadily, "Sayu's gone."

Light's eyes widened as he listened to what Soichiro said in disbelief.

 _"She's been kidnapped."_


	17. Heirs

**A/N: Damn, it has been a while since I uploaded. I don't know about you guys but two weeks is a very long time for me. And I have a couple excuses for the inactivity.**

 **1\. I was being a lazy ass as usual, but being a lazy ass has its reasons :P**

 **2\. Schoolwork was getting to me, though I barely did anything :P**

 **3\. My inspiration and motivation had fled me these two weeks (nightmares)**

 **4\. After I finally got to writing, the chapter flow didn't feel quite right and I have to do a couple of rewrites (gah)**

 **5\. And I just ain't feeling it with one of the characters missing :(**

 **Nevertheless, things are beginning to get interesting (maybe), and more dramatic (probably) and we'll soon see the story to its end.**

 **Well, maybe not that soon. But enjoy anyways :)**

* * *

The tall, lanky man flew into the stacks of boxes, grunting and wincing, as he lay sprawled upon the overturned boxes.

He heard a pair of footsteps thudding against the concrete floor, slowly opening his eyes to see the blonde teen glaring at him with his fiery blue eyes.

He gasped and started frantically, "Boss-"

The man was cut off when a boot slammed into his chest, forcing a strangled cry of pain from him.

"Answer me, Chad," Mello's lips curled back as he growled, "What the fuck were you _trying_ to do?"

"I-It was just a threat!" Chad scrambled to speak, raising his arms up in defense, "I-I didn't try to do anything, I swear!"

"A threat?" The boy's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Yes, yes!"

Mello was silent, glaring down at him as he wheezed.

Two of his other men were standing by, watching and waiting to assist him, while keeping an eye on the girl in case she tried to take the opportunity to escape.

Sayu hid in the corner and shivered, her large terrified eyes fixed on the scene before her, her hair and clothes disheveled.

Mello lifted his foot slowly and did not miss the look of relief that passed the offender's face.

His expression grew harsh then, suddenly swinging his foot to kick the man hard in the face.

"Argh!"

Chad tumbled to the side and hit the floor, turning to face Mello in open fear.

He whimpered, hurriedly attempting to crawl away.

Mello calmly walked towards him, kicking him onto his back as Chad emitted a sharp cry of pain.

He viciously stomped on his elbow.

Chad screamed and wriggled in pain, his other hand reaching to pry his foot off.

Mello applied more force into his foot with cruel determination, before lifting it slightly as his wayward man fell limp.

"If it was only a threat," He spat viciously, "Then _why the hell did I see you tearing her clothes off and mounting her_?!"

"I'm sorry!" He pleaded.

"She was meant to be an exchange for the Death Note," Mello bellowed, "Not as a toy for you to play with you fool!"

He screamed as Mello stomped into his arm again, writhing frantically and clawing at his foot.

Mello heard a low whistle behind him, turning to see a redheaded teen looking about his age, smiling at him as he muttered with appreciation, "Harsh."

"Matt," he greeted.

Matt grinned in return, before setting his eyes on the girl that cowered almost out of their sight, arms covering what her ruined clothes were unable to.

"Taking care of the goods, huh?"

"We have no reason for the Japanese to go back on their terms," Mello said, turning to glare at Chad who lay panting on the floor.

"Well, her father and brother sort of lead them, right?" Matt said, taking off his jacket and making his way towards the girl, "They'll want her back anyway."

He held it out towards Sayu, who regarded him with a poorly disguised suspicion, before gingerly picking it out of his hands.

He smiled as she covered herself with the clothing and shrank further back.

"We have no reason to hurt the innocent," Mello said, "Unlike this moron over here."

With that, he brought his foot up and drove it into the man's side, earning himself a satisfying grunt of pain.

"Easy," Matt said, "You're scaring the chick over here."

Mello rolled his eyes, "She's just a bargaining chip, what she thinks of me doesn't mean anything in hell."

"Oh?" Matt grinned, "Well, she's a hottie though, you sure you wanna leave a bad impression? I could help you ask for her number."

Mello huffed and was about to hit him with a retort when his cellphone rang.

He fished it out of his pocket and peered at the caller ID, 'unknown'.

He faced his other men, jerking his chin towards the door.

They both nodded and hurried to leave, dragging the groaning man out the door before closing it behind them.

Once they were out of sight, Mello deemed it safe enough to press the 'answer' key.

"Yes? What have you found?"

By then, Matt had seated himself on one of the overturned boxes, pulling his cigarettes out of his breast pocket and sticking one in his mouth.

He then held the packet out to Sayu, one of it sticking out as an obvious offering.

Sayu stared wide-eyed at the cigarettes, then at Matt, before shaking her head with an incredulous look on her face.

Matt shrugged and pocketed them, before lighting up the one between his lips.

He closed his eyes and inhaled, then blew a puff of smoke into the air with a sigh as he tuned into Mello's conversation.

"A hidden file?"

Matt could barely hear the man's voice on the other end of the line as he replies.

"Yes, sir."

"I see, Near is working on it now?"

"Indeed, sir."

"How long will it take?"

"It was estimated to take at least a month."

Mello was silent, his mind racing with what this could possibly mean.

"Sir?"

"I see," Mello said as a finality, "Keep monitoring the group and report to me if you find anything else."

"As you wish."

"What has the snitch found?" Matt asked as soon as Mello ended the call.

"Hidden documents among the files that L left behind."

"Oh?" Matt was instantly interested, cracking his knuckles, "I would like to crack those myself."

"Getting to those files won't be as easy as getting information from Ratt, you know."

"I could try," he smirked, "I'm the best hacker around here after all."

"And we'll risk losing our snitch forever," Mello said, crossing his arms.

"Meh, you're no fun."

"You're having too much fun," Mello grumbled, "Why the hell am I even friends with you?"

"Because I'm awesome?" Matt grinned cheekily.

Mello's eye twitched as he resisted the urge to slug him in the face.

"Just kidding~" He stuck his tongue out and Mello gave up.

Matt flicked the ashes onto the floor as he blew another puff of smoke into the air.

"So you're gonna get the Japanese exchange the Death Note for the girl, having the man change his flight at the last moment so the others will not be able to follow."

"They will lose their credibility in this battle against Kira with the loss of the Death Note," Mello continued, "Then it will just be me and Near competing to see who catches Kira first."

"By obtaining his weapon," Matt said, "You will eliminate one of the competitions, while stealing information from Near and whatever he is investigating, thus keeping yourself a step ahead of him at all times."

"Brilliant!" He grinned, flashy a toothy smile.

"No less," Mello smiled back.

He set his eyes on Sayu who still cowered in the corner, having no knowledge of what they have just discussed as she looked upon them with terrified eyes.

"It will soon be time for the bargaining," he said, "Go get Mark and Hugh, we'll set off immediately."

"Alrighty!" Matt pushed himself off his seat and went off to do as he was told.

Mello approached Sayu and hauled her to her feet as she squeaked, dragging her out of the room.

* * *

Soichiro stared at the ticket that the mysterious man had given him.

"Take this flight, do not alert your friends if you want to see the girl again," he said, before quickly walking into the crowd and disappearing from sight.

The locked suitcase in hand, Soichiro headed for the terminal that the flight was scheduled to leave in fifteen minutes' time.

He could still remember as if it had transpired minutes before, when his wife called to tell him that their daughter had gone missing.

Seconds later, an unknown number contacted Light's computer.

Their identities were unclear, but they had wanted one thing.

The Death Note, in exchange for his daughter.

To prove that they are not lying, they let Sayu speak to them.

She sounded so afraid and distraught, bringing back unpleasant memories that Soichiro had.

He can't help but think that she sounded so much like Light on that day.

So lost, hurt and devastated.

Something he didn't want to hear again, something he promised to himself that he will not let Light go through again.

And by trying to protect him, his daughter ended up being the one suffering this time.

Why do his children have to endure such fear, such pain?

It spoke entirely of his abilities as a parent.

How he had failed.

It's his duty to protect his family, to ensure that they are happy.

And he have failed.

They had to bring her back.

Soichiro insisted to be the one to exchange the Death Note.

They didn't like the idea.

They fear he might jeopardize her safety out of rashness.

They didn't know what they were talking about.

It's _his_ daughter.

Her safety is everything to him.

His children's safety is everything to him.

Ideally, he would be able to retrieve both Sayu and the Death Note.

For the notebook is a powerful and deadly thing.

It would be catastrophic if it landed in the wrong hands.

Choose his daughter and the world will be in danger, the blood of many lives will taint his hands.

Choose the Death Note and his daughter will perish, his heart will tear into pieces, and no amount of compensation can bring back his precious daughter.

He simply couldn't give her up.

Not for anything.

He had sworn his life upon the safety and happiness of his children.

He shall not fail again.

 _Not ever._

With renewed determination, Soichiro boarded the flight, Sayu as his priority.

He will bring his daughter back no matter what it takes.

He promised that upon himself.

* * *

Light sat alone apart from the realm of reality, watching with bated breath what had transpired.

He certainly wasn't pleased right now, what with his dear sister kidnapped and his father missing for over ten hours.

Last he'd seen of him was when his father was convincing 'Light' to have him retrieve Sayu.

Light protested, banging on the cold surface as if that would make a difference, as if someone would hear him by some miracle and his nightmare would be over.

Of course, no one saw.

Kira had argued with his father's decision as well, only to play the part of the true son.

Eventually, his father's stubbornness won out and he cursed his persistence.

 _Why didn't you just give in?_ Light screamed, _I don't want to have to lose someone else. Send Aizawa, Mogi, someone else, not you!_

Light watched helplessly as they started discussing about their plans, bringing out the Death Note and putting it into a suitcase and locking it.

Then he left.

Light feared.

He prayed that his father would be successfully, he prayed that he will return home with his sister, safe and sound.

His resentment for Kira only grew stronger.

Light glowered at the back of his head as the hate and fury burned, churning within him in a black, swirling mess.

All the pain and suffering, caused by this fiend.

And it threatens to destroy his entire life, forcing him to watch as his dark plans unfold one after another, slowly, agonizingly.

The blackness within him ate at his core.

Light didn't notice himself begin to claw at the mirror, lips curled back and teeth bared in a feral snarl.

Kira seemed to hear and sense the animosity radiating from his reflection, turning to glance at Light sidelong, before flashing a demented grin at him.

Light screamed, all of his hatred and bitterness filling up the space between Kira and him as he slammed into the immovable glass with both his fists, amber eyes shining bright in rage.

Kira's grin only spread even wider at the state that Light is in, as the young man's outraged yell diminished into a barely contained growl, his sharp eyes still fixed on Kira like a vengeful spirit.

Both didn't notice Matsuda turn when Kira accidentally let a few chuckles slipped.

He turned away quickly when a beeping suddenly came from Light's computer, which called the young man's attention.

Kira raised an eyebrow when he saw that the caller was of an unknown origin. His eyes narrowed as he reached for his headset, before answering the call.

As soon as he pressed the button, his screen and the main screen flashed a blinding white, a black gothic 'N' located in the middle of the monitors.

A collective gasp burst out among the Task Force members, including Light who is trapped in the mirror as he stared at the screen in utter disbelief.

Kira's eyes only narrowed further as a distorted voice rang from the speakers, "This is N."

"This is L," Kira said calmly.

"As I have guessed," it said, "And I also deduced that the Japanese Task Force are currently have some issues."

Kira stayed silent. Only Light was able to see the resentful glare that he directed towards the screen.

"It is the work of the Mafia that forces you to exchange a hostage for the Death Note, am I right?"

A silent chaos had started in the workroom as the others were either immobilized by shock or discussing how on earth does this mysterious person know of their circumstances.

"Who are you?" Kira demanded.

"I believe I have not introduced myself to your satisfaction," he said, "I am N, L's true successor."

Kira's eye twitched as he stared unblinkingly at the screen.

"I am here to offer assistance for your current predicament," N said, "I am also offering an alliance in this battle against Kira."

"We shall capture Kira together, Second L.," he said.

Kira flashed a smile that looked too entirely normal for the red-hot anger in his eyes.

"I certainly look forward to working together with you, N."


	18. Unravel

"Sayu…" Soichiro breathed, staring wide-eyed at the state that his daughter had fallen into, cowering as she shrunk away from the others, eyes wide with fear with whatever memories that replayed over and over in her mind, paralyzing her.

"Sayu…" Light uttered, his breath fogging up the window as he peered, his image bright against the dark sky.

Kira was silent, looking down upon the pair of father and daughter without a word, his eyes cold but widened and his lips pressed thin as a show of disbelief and barely constrained sorrow.

Light's younger sister whimpered and sank below the covers as the nurse attempted to calm her.

She had been like this ever since her retrieval, terrified and silenced. She hadn't uttered a single word at all.

"Sayu," Soichiro tried approaching her, only for her to cry out sharply and struggle back to shiver on the corner of her bed.

"Dad," Kira held him back, his vacant eyes fixed upon the girl hiding under the blanket.

Sayu stopped struggling at his voice, appearing to calm.

However, she took one look at the man that was supposedly her brother and screamed.

"Sayu, Sayu, what's wrong!" Light cried out, his words falling on deaf ears much like Soichiro's had as she kept shrieking in fear, her wild eyes fixed on Kira as she tried her best to get away from him.

Light's heart felt as though it was being ripped into two as he saw his sister reduced to such a state.

The nurse promptly got them to leave and Light was forcibly pulled out of the room and back into darkness and noises ceased.

"My daughter, my Sayu…" Soichiro's muffled and clearly broken voice reached his ears and his heart sank even lower.

He clasped a hand over his mouth and struggled against the tears that pricked at his eyes and the immense sorrow that threatened to overwhelm him.

"She has to get better," Kira's voice echoed in the darkness, "It can't end up like this."

"Light…" His father moaned in despair, "I lost the notebook, Light. I'm sorry."

"I don't want the notebook," He cried out in vain, knowing full well that his father will not hear him. "I just want Sayu to be okay!"

"It's alright Dad," Kira spoke solemnly, "We can still get it back."

"Light?"

"Believe me, we will catch those crooks that harmed Sayu and bring justice upon them."

Soichiro didn't reply to that and Light could only speculate how he would react.

"They can't get away with what they've done."

 _Don't listen to him!_

"We'll give them what they deserve," Kira's voice rang out harshly, "I'll avenge Sayu."

 _He's lying!_

"I have a plan, Dad."

"I'm listening."

"No!" Light screamed, but found that there was no way for him to reach them, or see them in the vast darkness.

He could hear Kira's smirk as his voice rang out, "N has information regarding their location."

"We'll ambush them and get the Death Note back."

* * *

Aizawa had always known that there is something strange about Soichiro's son.

No, it wasn't just after the time L had died.

Although he had not known Light that well, not before the Kira Case and not now, he had noticed something off about the young man.

He was not sensitive or intuitive, just observant.

Even without Matsuda's occasional mutters about Light being strange, Aizawa had drew some conclusions of his own.

How he claimed to be in a relationship with a model that is considered to be extremely attractive, yet barely bat an eye when she practically threw herself onto him.

If he did, it was out of irritation more than anything.

Then he had requested to move in together with her as if he had genuinely loved her.

Aizawa was sure that others would say that he wasn't in his right mind due to grief from the lost of his 'friend' (even someone like him could see there wasn't just friendship involved between the two).

But Light didn't seem that upset about it at all, not after that fateful night.

It could be said that he's shutting off his emotions and dealing with it that way.

But no, that wasn't it.

If fact, something about Light just seems so empty, a contrast to who he was while he was chained to L.

He could still remember the strange occurrence of Light supposedly losing his memories during confinement.

He was empty before that, but not quite to this extent.

Light was hardly upset by the news of his sister's kidnapping, merely displaying his anger or shock once, then it was forgotten altogether, there were barely traces of restrained emotions like what he expected to see.

He wasn't really disturbed by his sister's situation even now, a contrast to Soichiro who looked grieved and exhausted beyond their comprehension.

Light had looked pained about once or twice, the emotion barely showing in his dark eyes.

Then it was back to business as he revealed the plan to retrieve the Death Note.

Aizawa watched closely as he gestured over the layout of the Mafia hideout, pointing out their positions, the routes they should take to capture them.

"We'll have Mogi-san plant the bombs here," He instructed, jabbing a point on the map, "We'll take out some of them in the confusion, as long as create a safer entrance."

Light crossed his arms, frowning as he spoke the next words, "But first, we'll need someone to trade for the eyes."

They all stared at him.

Aizawa was the first to break the silence, "Why do we need to do that?"

"It is to make sure that their men are indeed dead by the time we enter the hideout," he explained, "N has reported that there are about three dozen Mafia members guarding the location. We needed the explosives to work for sure, lest they overwhelm us."

Is that really necessary?

He frowned at that but didn't ask anymore.

He probably won't understand what he's thinking anyway, much like how he didn't understand the genius of L's plans.

"And who are you going to have do that?"

Aizawa saw him turning in Matsuda's direction and was repulsed by his decision.

Before Light could say anything, Soichiro stepped forward suddenly.

"I'll do it," he said firmly.

The young man stared at his father in surprise and Aizawa could see him twitch, as if reacting to a loud, non-existent noise.

"Dad?"

"Chief Director!" Matsuda protested.

"Why?"

"I want to take responsibility for this mission," he declared gravely, a hard expression on his face, "I was the one who had lost the Death Note in the first place and I will not accept such a failure on my part without making up for it."

"But Chief," Matsuda cried, waving his arms frantically, "You'll have to give up half your life for it!"

"So?!" Soichiro bellowed at them, "I can't just sit still and allow someone else to do it when I was clearly to blame."

He turned to face his son with a determined expression on his face, "Let me do it, Light."

Aizawa was more than alarmed when he saw an invisible smile tug at his lips.

Then it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"I-If you insist, Dad," Light averted his eyes slightly, seemingly uneasy with the idea.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at what he had saw, while Matsuda continued to protest, echoing everyone's thoughts that were not spoken aloud.

As much as they respected Soichiro to not want him to fulfill this role in the mission, they respected his decision even more.

Light stared at his father for a long moment, eyes wide, unguarded and brimming with untold words.

Then he looked away and the eyes dulled as if nothing had happened.

"That's settled then…"

He frowned as Light's appearance did not match his voice.

He went back to the instructions, his words sounding ominous under the solemn atmosphere.

* * *

Soon after, Kira and Light were left alone in the room, where the others have left for their destination.

Light glared at him, "You were waiting for this to happen all along."

Kira stared at him with his eerie eyes and tilted his head much like L, infuriating Light ever more, "Pardon?"

"My Dad," Light growled, "You've planned this."

Kira laughed heartily in response, "I suppose you have caught me."

"Why?" Light demanded, his fists striking the glass, "You didn't have to involve him!"

Kira casually made his way across the room and made himself at home on the couch, "Well, as much as your father is my greatest shield against people who dared to oppose me, he is also as much of a liability."

He peered over at the figure in the mirror, the look of condescension on his face, "He still suspects me, well, you."

"It is only a matter of time before he turns on me and gain the support of the other idiots," Kira frowned at that thought, before breaking into a smirk, "It'll be best to get rid of him."

"Don't you _dare_ ," Light growled.

"It'll be so much easier once he dies," Kira ignored him, "A dead Soichiro Yagami would mean that his son, Light Yagami will have the pity and support of the rest of the Task Force."

He broke into a laugh, "They'll be less likely to defy me, then."

"And…" A knowing smile crept across his face as he looked straight at Light.

"What?" He spat, willing his confusion to stay hidden.

"Oh, you'll see, Light," Kira said cryptically, cackling all the while.

"You'll find out _very, very soon._ "

* * *

Everything was proceeding smoothly.

Kira sat in front of the screens, monitoring the situation and giving out instructions through the earpiece, watching calmly as they chased and captured the Mafia members that are still alive after the initial explosion.

Too bad he only had visuals outside of the building, he had to rely on the others to relay their status to him and deducing what else is happening aside from it.

Light watched through the mirror at the back of the room.

Through Kira's eyes, his image was becoming transparent, much more faded than he had been from before.

He hadn't realized it yet, but he could feel his strength waning as the hours ticked past after he had seen his sister.

Light was worried about that, but his heart prioritized the well-being of his father and prayed desperately that nothing bad would happen that Kira had wished upon him.

He leaned his weight onto the cold surface of the mirror, palms pressing into it as he anxiously listened in to Kira's instructions.

Light suddenly felt more fatigued as time passes and drooped forward once, stopping his descend before his head could hit the glass and blinked hard.

 _What…_

His vision went fuzzy for a moment and he caught a blurred vision of the desk surface, a pair of hands resting on the keyboard.

He shook his head and the image cleared abruptly, and he's back inside the hollow space.

Light shook his head to clear his vision and looked back up, seeing that Kira had not noticed anything, his attention all on the operation.

 _What was that?_

Light let out a breath, he rested his head against the cool glass and closed his eyes.

 _So tired…_

When he looked up a moment later Kira was staring at him, his harsh red eyes boring into him.

Light shuddered at the coldness that pierced through him as his dulling eyes met Kira's.

The red-eyed man stared at him for a few seconds longer, before a gleeful, cruel smirk twisted his features.

Light frowned, but did nothing else in reaction as weakness surged through his form.

Kira would probably torment him further but was distracted by a voice bursting through his earpiece.

"Dad?" He inquired, turning to the front and listening closely as Light's eyes widened, anxiously pressing closer to the glass in a fruitless effort to listen to the conversation.

"What are you doing?" Kira demanded, "You need to take him down, now!"

He let out a growl of frustration as Soichiro seemed to ignore him.

"Dad!" He shouted then cursed to himself, before switching the connection, "Mogi, Aizawa, what's your situation?"

Light was visibly agitated as he regarded the scene with all his attention, face pale as he heard that it was not going well at all.

"Alright," Kira muttered, "Once you're done there, please head to the north wing, level two to assist my dad."

"Please hurry."

Kira switched back to Soichiro, listening intently to what was going on.

"Dad, listen to me-"

He paused and Light's fingers curled up against the glass, heart thundering in his chest.

"Dad? What happened?" Kira demanded, his voice fearful, "Dad!"

A burst of orange illuminated the dark building on the screen and Kira stood in alarm as an accompanying 'boom' rattled the cameras in the area, causing the numerous screens to shake.

Kira stared at the sight in silence, barely reacting as Light froze.

 _"No…"_ He breathed, eyes wide when he caught the explosion on screen.

* * *

Across the globe in the highly extravagant investigation building where some of the SPK members are hard at work, Near sat atop his chair in a crouch that he'd come to favour over the years from watching his mentor, dark eyes flickering through the numerous documents located in the files.

Nearby, Elliot Schmidt was slumped over on his desk, exhausted from over two weeks of continuous work.

A pile of dominoes was left abandoned in the middle of the workroom, where the pieces were meticulously arranged and balanced on one another to replicate the Cologne Cathedral he'd seen once in a book exactly.

As Near neared the end of the files, he leaned back in his chair, staring unblinkingly at the screen still, an unnamed emotion passing through his usually vacant eyes.

"I see," He uttered, his eyes clear, "Light Yagami is Kira."


	19. Grudge

_Mello was rushing with his men to escape the moment the building was shaken by a far off explosion._

 _He cursed, not expecting the Task Force to be able to uncover them so quickly, if at all._

 _It was a good thing that this is just one of the many bases they have, put in place by the former Mafia leaders in case they came under attack._

 _Well, they did._

 _The teen quickly typed out a message to inform Matt, who is now in town to get some supplies and proceeded to rush out of the room, yelling at the others to hurry up._

 _They almost made it._

 _Almost._

 _The next thing he knew, his men was being gunned down, collapsing behind him in a succession of heavy thuds, including the one who was holding onto the book._

 _"Freeze!" A voice commanded and he had no choice but to follow that order._

 _Mello dared to glance back, catching sight of a lone, middle-aged man clad in blue and gray protective gear as he stepped forward and retrieved the Death Note from one of his fallen men._

 _They were adequately prepared for this, someone must have ratted me out._

 _His eyes narrowed._

 ** _Near._**

 _Rage burned through him at the thought of L's successor who managed to obtain his information and_ ** _sold_** _him out._

 _He watched as the man now backed away clutching the book in one hand and the gun in the other, pointed straight at him, his wary gaze showing a strange red tint._

 _With all his attention spent on him, the older man almost failed to notice one of Mello's people behind him in the doorway._

 _He rushed into the room, yelling in his bravado as he shot at the Task Force member, missing and hitting him in the hand covered in armor._

 _The man shoots back and he was dead._

 _Mello was silently fuming._

 _Idiot._

 _This however made the man dropped his gun and Mello took the opportunity, rushing towards one of the bodies that possessed a handgun._

 _"Mihael Keehl!"_

 _The blonde immediately froze at the revelation of his real name, the pistol just inches out of his reach._

 _"Step away from the gun!"_

 _Another glance told Mello that the man had a pen out, ready to write down his name in the Death Note if he dares make a move._

 _He bit back a growl, slowly backing away from his escape as he held both his hands up and turned to face him._

 _The sounds of gunshot and shouting can barely be heard within the confines of the room, as the two of them glared at each other._

 _That was when Mello caught a glimpse of one of his men who were presumably dead glancing discreetly at him, careful not to make any noises that would alert the man to his presence._

 _This is it, his chance._

 _He forced himself not to look at his lackey, so as to prevent compromising his position._

 _Instead, he eyed the Japanese man critically, keeping his steely blue eyes even._

 _The man was cautious, clearly nervous as he kept the notebook close to himself, pen poised at the ready._

 _Mello had known that this is Soichiro Yagami, former Chief of the NPA who was in Task Force when it was originally led by L, now led by his son._

 _The man had never quite favor the idea of killing; his records showed his mercy towards the convicts more in the enforcement._

 _This could work to his advantage._

 _"Soichiro Yagami," he experimented and the man flinched visibly, a pleasing result._

 _People who are under immense pressure tend to make mistakes._

 _"I should've written your name down when I had the chance," Mello continued, starting to step around him, the sound of his deliberate footsteps echoing about the room._

 _As expected, the Japanese kept himself facing completely towards Mello in the direction that he walked, beginning to put the hidden Mafia member behind him._

 _Mello fought to keep the smirk off his face._

 _It is going well._

 _"See where this led me, cornered like a rat in my own turf," the sound leather boots seemed loud within the confines of the room._

 _"So why don't you write mine down," the blonde smirked, seeing that the man is growing more unnerved by the second, then dropping to low tone, "Before something happens to you?"_

 _Mello stopped walking, once he had the older man where he wanted him to be._

 _He patiently waited, could see a bead of sweat making its way down his pale face, having not noticed that he had been manipulated by the younger male._

 _"Can't do it, can you?" Mello smiled, showing his teeth and seeing the man twitch._

 _His eyes flicked down to meet with the prone man in the briefest of seconds, both coming to a swift and silent agreement._

 ** _Now._**

 _"This is what marks your downfall then!"_

 _Mello threw himself to the side the same time his follower raised his assault rifle._

 _The last thing he saw of Soichiro's face before he hit the ground was the shock that overcame his features, before a scream rang out as a full clip of bullets were unloaded onto him._

 _He fell to the ground with a heavy thud and went still._

 _Mello got to his feet, setting his disdainful eyes on the older man who's still alive._

 _His bulletproof gear would protect him from the worst of it, but he could easily sustain internal damage having that amount of ammunition hammered into him at close range._

 _Gunshots and shouts still emanated from beyond the room, injecting into the teen the sense of urgency._

 _"Get the notebook," He snapped at the man who now stood by Soichiro's fallen body, "Let's get the hell out of here before any of them arrives."_

 _He nodded, reaching out to grab it and bit out a curse._

 _Mello turned and found him fighting for the book with the Japanese man, "Hurry up!"_

 _"I'm trying!" He yelled out, "Fucker won't let go of the book."_

 _He began to kick at Soichiro to get him to loosen his grip._

 _Soichiro winced and grunted but still refused to let go._

 _Mello growled, growing more annoyed with every second that they wasted._

 _He picked up a gun from one of his men that are definitely dead, walking to the broken man, intending to blow his brains out and finally get rid of him._

 _Numerous footsteps thundered into the room and Mello looked up in alarm, seeing a couple other men clad in the same gear as Soichiro piling into the room, pointing their weapons at him._

 _"Step back and put your hands up!" One of them yelled, and Mello had no choice but to throw his gun away and lifted his hands in surrender._

 _He glared at them, watching as another one went to check on their injured comrade as the others kept their eyes on him, his mind furiously working for an escape._

 _The room suddenly shook as an explosion echoed through the air._

 _"What was that?" The third man uttered, fear clouding his voice._

 _Mello began to step away when the room was shaken once again, more violently this time as a deafening succession of blasts thunder in his ear._

 _It felt as if the room was ripped apart when a particularly strong force hit them, the blast knocking Mello over and tore a scream out of him when intense heat erupted, the orange wave that struck his face boiling his skin and burning him to the core of his being._

 _He was vaguely aware that the other occupants of the room are down as well, as he crawled to his shaky feet in valiant effort, his vision tinged with red as he began to stumble towards the opening where the wall had crumbled in._

 _Mello reached forward with a shaky hand, fingers numbed by pain as they came into contact with the concrete wall, the coolness of the air piercing his face as he peered unseeingly at the darkness of the night._

 _He registered crimson against the dark road below and a frantic voice that called out to him._

 _"Mello!"_

 _Matt._

 _His eyes slid shut as a falling sensation overcame his senses and…_

 _Nothing._

* * *

"Mello?"

The teen heard a soft groan, body beginning to throb as he drifted back into consciousness.

"Mells."

Mello heard another weak groan, later realizing that it had come from him when he slowly cracked an eye open.

The first thing he saw had been red, he blinked again, attempting to clear his vision when he realized that it had been the blurry sight of Matt's hair.

His goggles are hanging from his neck, the orange strip swaying slightly as he leaned back.

"Hey…" Matt smiled softly when he saw that Mello had woken up, his face momentarily losing the bright, carefree disposition that he have.

"Matt…?" Mello croaked feebly, wincing at the weakness of his own voice and how painfully parched his throat felt.

Matt reached beside him and retrieved a bottle of water, a straw rolling about in it as he held it towards his friend.

"Give it to me," Mello ordered, his voice hoarse.

"But…"

"I'm not helpless," He snapped, struggling to sit up and ignoring the waves of pain that wracked his body at the movement.

Concerned, Matt placed the bottle back down and tried to help him, but had every of his attempts swatted away by a very injured and increasingly irritated Mello.

The blonde finally accomplished his task and panted from the exertion.

Matt cautiously handed the bottle to him and remained silent as Mello took a welcome sip of water.

He began to take in his surroundings, finding himself in what seems to be a dimly lit, very old hospital room full of dust and cobwebs, with the wallpaper peeling, covered in moss and cracks and the floor is covered in numerous old unknown stains.

He turned to Matt, vaguely puzzled why his vision had seemed strange when he asked, "Where are we?"

"Some old abandoned hospital," He replied, "We're about a couple kilometers away from our base, as far as I dared to bring us before you… you know."

Mello didn't need him to finish his sentence to know what he meant.

"What are the damages?"

The redhead began to look uncomfortable, his eyes darting off to the side, "Uh…"

" _Tell me_ ," Mello demanded, his irritation with his friend earlier had not dissipated.

"It's not really that bad, apart from a couple bruised ribs or so," Matt stated, "But…"

He peered at Mello's face and the teen who was disoriented from pain and exhaustion began to have an idea of what happened.

He slowly reached up with a hand, towards the part where he realized he couldn't see out of and felt the rough fabric of gauze and bandages under his fingertips.

"How bad is it?" He asked, voice unexpectedly coming out in a horrified whisper.

"It's… burnt," Matt answered hesitantly, "The skin, that is."

He grew concerned when Mello stared at him blankly for the next moment, feeling the multitude of emotions stirring just under the surface.

"Mel-"

"Mirror."

"What?"

Before Matt could react, Mello began to struggle out of the thin bed with a terrifying ferocity that he backed up in surprise, the old wooden chair that he'd been sitting on fell back and crashed to the floor.

The teen planted a foot onto the floor and stumbled from weakness but managed to regain his footing before he could crash into Matt.

The startled redhead reached out to help him.

Mello set his intense eye upon him, stopping him in his tracks, before rushing towards the adjoining bathroom.

Matt stood and waited with bated breath, wincing when an outraged scream spilled out of the room, reverberating throughout the deathly silent hospital.

He slowly made his way to where Mello was and found him standing and staring at the old and cracked mirror, panting.

The left side of his face was mostly burnt, colored with blotches of red and pink, swollen and angry-looking.

His other eye was squeezed shut by the inflamed skin surrounding it; it was unclear whether he could still see out of it.

Matt was silent as Mello stared at his reflection, face filled with disbelief at the disfigurement.

"This…" He trailed off, unable to form a single coherent thought.

Matt gazed at him sadly, "Mells…"

Mello twitched when he caught the pity in his voice, the shock immediately evaporated and replaced with rage.

 _I don't want any pity!_

He began to glare at the ugly burn on his face.

This… it's their fault.

They're the ones who caused it to turn out this way, the Task Force, Near, Yagami.

It's all their fault.

They're going to regret this.

"Mello?" Matt seemed to notice the waves of hostility that came from his friend and was again concerned.

"Did anyone else get out?" He asked, surprising Matt with his sudden vehemence.

"That I'm not too sure," He answered, eyeing the blonde cautiously, "But if they did they would've headed to our nearest location."

"Then let's go," Mello said, making to leave.

Matt stepped into the doorway, earning himself a glare.

"What?"

"Let me redress that," Matt said, "You want to recover quicker, right?"

Mello glared at him but didn't argue as that seemed to be perfectly reasonable.

He went back into the room, sitting down with a sigh as Matt wordlessly fetched new supplies.

His phone suddenly rang, causing him to jump and curse, the bandages dropping from his hands and onto the floor.

Matt fished it out of the pocket, glancing at the screen and handing it to Mello, "It's Ratt."

The teen answered the phone, "What is it?"

Seconds later, Mello dropped the phone, his features overcame by shock for the second time that night.

"Mello?" Matt curious and worried, nudged him, "What's wrong?"

Mello didn't answer, what Ratt had said to him replaying in his mind over and over.

 _The one leading the Task Force, L._

"He is Kira," Mello uttered.

His expression then morphed into that of rage and he growled.

 _"I will kill him."_

* * *

Near sat in his chair in the quiet workroom.

It had always been quiet, with the SPK members all hard at work throughout the day as they helped Near with the Kira Case and whatnot.

But it wasn't quite this _empty_.

At this moment, eleven of his allies are now dead, all perished by heart attacks in this very room.

That was after Mello had gotten hold of the Death Note and their software security brutally breached, almost all the information containing their profiles stolen before Near was able to shut the attacker out.

Almost.

What had remained of the information had retained the lives of the remaining four: Rester, Lidner, Gevanni, Ratt.

Near had not been in any danger from that, since his name was never on paper at any point.

He knew it had been Mello that had killed them, and he knew that Matt was with him, for Matt was gifted in the workings of technology.

He knew from seeing them back at the Whammy House, that Matt will follow Mello anywhere.

Killing his men.

 _Unforgivable._

That was the reason that led him to help Yagami with the raid on Mello's base.

He knew that the young man wanted revenge on Mello too, for kidnapping his younger sister.

Near had reports on what happened to her, it was understandable that Yagami would want to kill him.

He wanted to see justice done and allowed it.

That was before he found out that he was actually Kira.

Right under their noses all along.

Near felt numb, he had thought Yagami to be a potential ally to help uncover and capture Kira.

Apparently not.

Light had killed L and took his place.

He had lied to them all, fooled even the likes of Near even though he had never been trusting of anyone.

 _Unforgivable._

That wasn't all.

After all the and the drama in the SPK died down, Near returned to his work only to discover that all the files he had been looking at were gone.

The photos of criminal's corpses, records, theories, video recordings – all gone.

Perplexed, he scoured every byte of data he could find within the database.

Nothing, they have disappeared without a trace.

He thought maybe Matt may have stolen that as well, but dismissed it when he found the software protection on it to have remained untouched.

It seemed that he couldn't have gotten to those, when he had not finished taking all of the SPK's identity information.

Near merely sat silently and reviewed the information stored in his brain.

Now that the solid evidence are all gone, including the test of the thirteen-day rule that was proven false, the fact that pieces torn from the Death Note are still functional, Near was unable to prove to people that Light Yagami is indeed the first and original Kira.

That meant he had to start over from scratch.

But thanks to L, it should be easier now due to the additional knowledge that he had provided prior to his death.

He will be the one to avenge L.

That he promised himself.

* * *

"Light, welcome home!"

Misa bounced up and down excitedly as her boyfriend finally came home after his work, in a location that she had no idea of because of the confidentiality that Light and the others have wordlessly promised to each other.

"Misa," He smiled, seemingly pleased.

She beamed.

Light took off his jacket and handed it to her as she asked, "How was the work today?"

"It was alright," He answered mechanically before a smirk adorned his face for a short moment, "It shouldn't be too long now before we succeed."

He unexpectedly took a step closer and pulled Misa flush against him, earning a startled yelp from her.

Her wide brown eyes gazed into his dark ones, a faint blush coloring her face at how close they are, she could just tilt her head up and his lips would be upon hers.

"And you Misa," Light said, leaning until his low, husky voice sounded by her ears, his breath tickling her skin, "You'll be my eternal goddess."

Her face flushed a deeper red as she shuddered, leaning into him as his arm snaked around her delicate waist.

"L-Light…"

"Soon, my queen," She felt him smile and knew that her face mirrored his expression.

Light pulled away and Misa was mildly disappointed until she saw the troubled look on his face.

"Light?"

"Misa," He uttered, "There's this feeling that I have, I think that they suspect me."

"Who?" She asked urgently.

Whoever they are, she will kill them if Light wishes her to do so.

"Don't worry Misa," He said, "We should be able to get around this, all you have to do is to pass your Death Note to me and relinquish your ownership."

The blonde girl was silenced for a second, before protesting, "But Light, how can Misa help you like this?"

"It's the best way Misa," Light said, "If I am not wrong, the Task Force would be asking to monitor me and you soon, we can't have the Death Notes if we don't want to get caught."

Misa felt panicked for some reason.

She didn't want to lose her memories again, she didn't want to become a liability to him by having no knowledge of what happened.

Light seemed to see that and took her arm, "Misa."

She looked up and his eyes were so gentle, so sincere as he muttered, "Trust me, Misa, we'll be alright, just leave it to me."

She stared at him, before reluctantly saying, "O-okay…"

Light smiled and she decided that she never had anything to worry about when she went into the bedroom to retrieve the notebook.

"Ryuk!" She called and in an instant the large, dark figure swooped into the room, grinning maniacally at them.

Misa passed the Death Note to Light, smiling at him with all her trust as she uttered, "I give up my ownership of a Death Note."

Suddenly, Light's lips twitched into a harsh smirk, one that Misa barely caught before her vision went black.

Light caught her as she fell, lowering her prone body onto the couch.

Ryuk was bouncing behind him, much like he does when he gets excited about apples, "So whatcha gonna do, Light?"

"This book will be given to a new proxy," Light said, turning to hand the Death Note to him, "Seek out a man by the name of Mikami Teru."

"Ya making me look for a person?" Ryuk screeched in irritation.

"How about doing it for a barrel of apples?" He smirked, knowing that the shinigami would not be able to resist the offer.

"Fine!" Ryuk spread his wings suddenly and shot out of the room, muttering, "This'd better be worth my time."

* * *

Light left the unconscious girl on the couch and entered the darkened bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Faint sunlight filtered through the cracks between the drapes as Light turned to look upon the mirror.

He studied his reflection expressionlessly, before his eyes grew wide and harsh as he tilted his head slightly.

"Light Yagami…" He uttered to no one as he continue to tilt his head, examining his features from every angle that he could.

His reflection did not respond, merely copying his actions.

He went still, before beginning to cackle, the sound echoing about the room and causing dust motes to jerk about erratically, as if pushed about by an unseen force.

Light stopped laughing and looked up slightly, staring at the smooth, sun-kissed skin of his neck.

The sky darkened and the already weak beam of light faltered, beginning to melt into the shadows of the room.

He could still remember the sensation from days ago, when he closed his hands against it and squeezed until he could muscles convulse under his touch.

No one but him will know how delicate it really is.

He chuckled, his eyes shining red only in the mirror.

"I win," he said, his voice harsh and low.

He cackled and the weakening daylight wavered and dimmed.

Only the faintest of remained, cutting into the room undisturbed even as the darkness threatened to swallow it whole.


	20. Revelations

Kira sat at his desk, leaning back on his seat as he twirled the pen with his fingers.

Things had been going well so far, all according to plan.

Considering that he did inherit Light's brain, it should be impeccable, with nothing out of place.

He risked a little smile, even under the supposed watchful eye of the Task Force in the dimmed workroom.

The moment he'd first been aware, he had been patient, an intangible entity that existed alongside with his host.

Under the dark influence of the Death Note, Light had birthed him unknowingly and from there, he became a splitting image of his soul right at the moment where the notebook took hold of him.

That was where their similarities had ended, for in actuality Light was not quite as evil.

So he waited, watching the world through Light's eyes as he slowly gained strength with time and with the increasing influence of the Death Note that held Light.

The longer it is, the better the odds for his existence.

Kira still remembered the first days he played Light like a fiddle, probed at his mind this way and that.

He didn't even remember seeing Kira in the mirror, even though he had truly did, while Kira watched from his reflections and laughed.

It was entertaining while it lasted.

But of course, he wanted more, what Light had wanted the exact moment he created Kira, under the effect of the Death Note.

 _To become God_.

Then the notebook was gone and that was no longer Light's ambition.

Kira can no longer control Light's mind in the subtle ways that he had used to, for his host had become aware that his thoughts and actions were not actually his own.

 _But it was already too late_.

Kira had grown much too strong to be destroyed by his will alone, the slow takeover of his subconscious had already begun.

Light didn't know what hit him when he'd touched the Death Note again.

The dark power was back and Kira can no longer be denied.

Kira hid a smile behind his hand as he stared at the screen, still leaning back in his seat and aware of the other's eyes on him.

At that point, Light still had some control left.

But Kira would not allow that of course, as that meant that he might figure out a way to weaken and get rid of him for good.

Kira had known how intelligent and quick he is and took no chances.

The best way to get rid of Light Yagami is by breaking his soul.

But tormenting him directly is going to take a long time, as he had learnt much earlier, thankfully.

And he had learnt that the most effective way to destroy Light Yagami.

 _Is to destroy his loved ones._

That had been much simpler, according to Kira.

The first blow was through L and that alone already took him to the point of no return, stripping him completely of the ability to remain as the one in control.

The second blow was not at all according to plan but it was good enough, Sayu's ruined mind was enough to push him further into the darkness.

The deciding blow – Soichiro's death.

There was no way Light's soul could've survived all that.

Weeks after Kira still checked the mirror from time to time, Light's inherited paranoia affecting him.

He saw nothing in the mirror, heard nothing and felt nothing in the recesses of his mind.

Light is fully, truly gone.

And how that have pleased him, to have gained this body as his own.

All his to use.

All that's left right now is to deal with L's blasted successors and his path would be clear.

Nothing would be able to stop him then.

Kira chuckled, disguised it as a cough and sat upright in his chair.

Now, what shall he do to get rid of them?

He spun the pen around in his hand and smiled darkly at it.

 _This is going to be so much fun._

* * *

"I have concluded, the thirteen-day rule that was stated in the Death Note is false."

Aizawa gaped at the screen, before frowning, "How do you know that?"

The police officer was seated alone in the workroom, out of sight of Light or Matsuda or anyone else as Near had contacted.

The L-like detective had inquired about the state of their surveillance of Light – which so far had yielded nothing other than the fact that he was clean.

Even so, Aizawa just had this nagging feeling that something's off about the leader of their investigation ever since L's death a little more than two years ago, and ever more so after Soichiro's death.

Something about him doesn't seem natural and Matsuda's constant babbling about how weird Light has become isn't helping things one bit.

Still, he has suspicions about Near's motives and his claims have to come with prove before he could even begin to believe him.

"As the thirteen-day rule states," Near said, "A person who writes a name in the Death Note will die unless he writes a name every thirteen days, this was what had cleared Light Yagami to be innocent when he was under confinement and surveillance for over six months with no means to use the Death Note in any way."

"However, as I have discovered recently," Near continued, "Mello had used the Death Note for fifteen days ago to kill some of my SPK members."

As that was said, numerous screens with the profiles of SPK members popped up on Aizawa's screen.

"The true names of the deceased SPK members would be written in the Death Note that the Task Force currently possess," he stated, "As I have not personally seen the page of the Death Note itself I should have no way of knowing what names have been written down as the recent entries, therefore stating that I did not fabricate the data that I have sent you."

"Give me a second," Aizawa muttered before he scrambled towards the safe in the room, frantically punching in the key code and yanking the suitcase out from it.

He unlocked the case with another two string of codes and forced it open, grabbing the notebook and flipping it hurriedly to the very last page.

There he checked the names on the book and on the screens and found with a horror that they are indeed the same.

He slowly put the book down, still staring at the names in disbelief.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" He asked, "What if someone else wrote this down instead of Mello. And if it was him, how do I know whether he is still alive?"

There was an audible sigh from the laptop before another window popped up on his screen.

It was a surveillance footage.

Aizawa watched as it showed the interior of what appears to be an airport, along with two male figures on it, one of them sported red hair and dressed in a striped t-shirt while the other had a hood on.

At some point, the hooded male turned towards the camera and the footage froze.

Aizawa discovered that he recognized it to be Mello from the raid over two weeks ago.

"As you can see, Mello is still very much alive," Near stated, before the footage played again, up till the point where the blonde with the scarred face seemed to be required to fill in a form.

It zoomed in to the document and paused, showing Mello's handwriting with its sharp edges and bold letters onscreen.

Aizawa immediately compared it to the eleven SPK members' names written in the Death Note

"I assumed that as a seasoned police officer you are able to determine whether it is indeed his handwriting, as was required in your training," Near said, "Is this enough to prove whether what I am telling you is prove?"

"So Light is really…" Aizawa was at a loss for words.

"Although this does not prove that he is Kira," Near stated, "It disproves his innocence of not being Kira since the rules are all true except for that particular one."

"Along with the circumstances that always seems to be in Kira's favor," Near said, "This makes him very suspicious indeed."

"So…"

"So you shall continue to watch him, for now," Near said, "I suspect that Light, assuming that he is Kira, would have found a proxy and given him the ability to kill as Kira had, until then we have little else to work with."

"I see," Aizawa uttered, not entirely happy with how things turned out, "We'll do just that."

The screen went dim and he slammed his hands into the table.

He refused to believe it.

Light can't be Kira.

Not after Soichiro had confirmed it with his own eyes, right before he passed away in front of them.

Aizawa squeezed his eyes shut.

The son of a capable and respected man like Soichiro cannot be Kira.

Soichiro had been nothing but a upstanding man worthy of the title of the police chief.

How is he supposed to honor his memory when he had to prove that Light is Kira and turn him in?

He couldn't possibly do that.

Aizawa slowly opened his eyes.

No, he had to.

Soichiro had always believed in doing the right thing.

If capturing Kira is the right thing, then he had to do it wholeheartedly, regardless of whether Light is truly Kira as they all suspected.

He took a steadying breath and strengthened his resolve.

The deaths that they have suffered will no be in vain and Kira _will_ be brought to justice.

* * *

A man sat alone before several large monitors, his form barely perceptible in the dark room.

A sickly sweet smell hung in the air, accompanied by a soft crunching as he stared at the black screens.

His long, pale finger reached forward to push a button and the middle screen flickered to life, revealing a female new caster with short black hair and a white blouse looking at him.

Her name, 'Kiyomi Takada' is displayed onscreen.

"Good evening, this is Kiyomi Takada from News 6." She announced clearly and effortlessly, no doubt a professional in her field, "Starting today, it will be my duty to spread the word as Kira accurately and quickly, from now on-"

A 'click' sounded as the button was pressed and the scene changed, this time showing the blurry silhouettes of Matt and Mello, the exact same footage Near had sent to Aizawa.

The button was pressed again and this time showed them both heading towards the boarding area and to the gate for the flight heading for Tokyo, Japan.

Another click sounded and the screen showed a newspaper article written in Japanese, displaying a picture of the late Soichiro Yagami.

The next footage showed the white-haired Near sitting in the middle of his workroom in America, conversing to an SPK member named Rester without looking at him as he stacked a tower out of dominoes.

The screen flickered again and displayed 'Light' leaning back in his chair, spinning a pen around his fingers as the others watched him discreetly.

The door creaked open and a man walks in.

He was tall, with short dark hair and dark emerald eyes and carried with him a dignified and competent air.

He was dressed in a white dress shirt, dark pants and black suit jacket much like respectable man of his society wore for their careers.

"Sir," he spoke, regarding the man in the chair, "The plane is ready."

He nodded, "We shall leave, then."

The monitors flickered and turned black, once again plunging the room in complete darkness.


	21. Glimpses

In the middle of the workroom, darkened only except for the artificial light provided by the various screens, the surviving members of the SPK were hard at work, now monitoring the activities of the Kira supporters, the Second L as well as Kira himself, who up till today, remain at large.

At the moment, Near was hunkered down in the middle of his giant structure made out of about 6000 dices. He had Gevanni procure these a day ago, much to the man's distress, as the new building is yet to have security measures like the old one, meaning he had to carry them all personally to Near.

Each piece was painstakingly arranged to create the replica of the Whammy House, as he had remembered.

He pieced together the entire north wing of the building and was reminded of his early days where a man with unkempt black hair, black eyes, white sweater and loose jeans by the false name of 'Rue Ryuzaki' typically hung around the premises, the hallways turned warm by the yellow glow of the sun.

Near knew easily the moment he saw him that he was not L's assistant who claimed to be, but L himself.

Ryuzaki did not deny nor confirm the fact when he was confronted and merely went on with his day as if the question was never asked.

The most recent memory he had of him, he'd spoke in hushed tones to the younger Mello, while Matt stood nearby jamming his thumbs into the buttons of his portable game player but paying attention to what they were saying.

He shuffled nearer and L, who finally noticed him looked up.

The young Near found himself immediately lost in the bottomless depths of his black eyes.

L smiled thinly, it was a smile nonetheless as he bade his farewells to Mello and Matt.

He came closer to the seemingly emotionless boy and very briefly, patted his head as he slouched past.

Near started and turned around, seeing 'Ryuzaki' joining their aged guardian, Quillsh, walking away without so much of a glance back.

A shout sounded from Mello as the blonde began chasing their mentor down, begging for him to stay, his young face full of nothing but adoration for the older man, as much as Near himself felt.

But he was gone and that was the last all of them saw of him.

Kiyomi Takada began to speak on the news and Near shook himself of his memories.

Listening to her voice speaking about Kira, he was reminded that Light Yagami, Kira, had forced them to relocate to a new location, using his influence over his supporters and had failed to anticipate that Near had indeed prepared for this.

But now, they had other problems.

For one thing, the killings had began again, Kira's 'punishment' appear to be more extreme this time and the death toll is spiralling out of control.

That is happening while both Kira and the Second Kira are both under the scrutiny of the SPK and the Task Force at the same time.

Without a doubt, Light Yagami have passed Kira's powers to someone else and that someone appears to have the same ideals as he does.

Someone whose sense of justice is so warped and absolute, just like him.

Someone decidedly connected to Kiyomi Takada, the one who was elected to be Kira's spokesperson and quite coincidentally had been involved with Light Yagami a scarce two years ago.

The man known as Aizawa had reported that they are currently working to try to connect to Kira through Takada, using Light Yagami.

He is communicating with her, with his chosen Kira all right under their noses.

At the same time, Mello and Matt had slipped into the crowd and disappeared right under their eyes.

The last time he saw them was at the airport in Tokyo and quite obviously on the hunt for Kira.

It had always been a competition, between him and Mello.

The same Mello who had also killed over two-thirds of his force.

Near's lips curled down in disdain.

 _He just had to make it personal._

A die slipped from his fingers, rolling into the representation of the statue in the gardens.

It struck the bottom of the precariously stacked structure and it crumbled noisily into a pile.

Near sighed, glaring at the one die that destroyed part of his handiwork.

He finally cast his eyes upon Kiyomi Takada, face serious as she faced the camera, speaking of 'Kira's vision'.

Her face was radiant and her eyes were bright, much like the faces of some of the girls back at Whammy's House when they were infatuated with another boy.

 _Kira is such a player_ , he thought distastefully to himself.

He stared at the clock building in the middle of the structures.

 _To figure out the identity of Kira's proxy…_

"Time is key."

"What did you say, Near?"

He caught the concerned face of Rester, the SPK member that, over the months had undoubtedly become something like his caretaker.

Something like a Quillsh to an L.

His lips quirked up at that amusing thought.

Near smiled, "It's nothing."

He returned and started to put the statue back in order, while Rester stared at him, slightly perturbed, before returning to his work.

Near stared closely with his dark eyes as he placed the last piece of die to make the statue, the structure wobbling slightly before stilling.

Right now, all he had to do is wait.

Light Yagami is very crafty, but one slip up and Kira forever will be compromised.

And he will be there when it happens.

* * *

 _The air was crisp and fresh, occasionally blowing over his form, accompanied by a bright yellow glow, the sound of chatter of laughter echoed in the background._

 _Mello cracked open his eyes, finding that Matt, his insufferable roommate has left the window open again._

 _It's too bright dammit._

 _He huffed and buried his head under the pillow in hopes of keeping the light out._

 _That was a mistake._

 _He heard a shuffling noise and before he could react, there was a shout and something heavy landed on his chest, knocking the breath him with an 'oof'._

 _"Morning, sleepyhead!" The bright and happy voice was exceeding, chasing the sleep out of him in an instant._

 _"Mrmph 'ff muh Matt," he grumbled through the godforsaken pillow._

 _"What?"_

 _"Gerph uff!"_

 _"What did you say?" Matt's voice was becoming too cheery for his liking._

 _Mello managed to get a hand free and grabbed onto the back of his friend's shirt, and with a heave, he succeeded in throwing Matt off himself._

 _There was a thud and a soft 'ow' as the redhead landed on the wooden floor, grinning stupidly._

 _He looked over at Mello who glared at him and smiled, "Typical of you to already be pissed off the moment you wake, eh?"_

 _Mello responded by throwing the pillow at his face._

 _As usual, the idiot recovered quickly and before long, he was already dragging Mello towards the foyer, exclaiming, "Come on, it's time for the rankings!"_

 _"The hell are you so excited about?" Mello grumbled, trying not to sound as eager as he felt._

 _Truthfully, he really wanted to see if he'd beaten Near._

 _He'd worked really hard so damn it all to hell if he got second place again._

 _They made it to the foyer, where the other kids are already gathered and chatting amongst themselves._

 _Mello pushed past them to look at the board, anticipation rushing through his veins._

 ** _I had to beat him this time._**

 _He cast his eyes upon the board._

 _His face falls._

 _1 – Near_

 _2 – Mello_

 _3 – Matt_

 _Mello pushed back through the crowd and stormed off, Matt quickly followed._

 _"Mels!"_

 _The boy ignored him and shoved the door open with a bang._

 _As expected, he found Near sitting along among his toys, staring at him with impassively._

 _"You piece of shit!"_

 _Arms snaked around him before he could hit the other boy._

 _"Mello, stop!"_

 _"Let go!" He growled at Matt who struggled to keep him from throwing a punch into Near's pale face._

 _"What?" Near was unfazed as he stacked another block onto the tower, "Did you come in second again?"_

 _"Fuck you!"_

 _"Language, Mello," Near deadpanned, but didn't seem to be offended as he glance over._

 _"Calm down, Mels!" Matt grunted._

 _"Shut up, asshole!"_

 _Near sighed, "Really, should someone hot-headed such as you even be considered worthy of L's title?"_

 _Mello froze at the comment and his eyes narrowed, "What did you say?"_

 _"Perhaps if you'd be a little more objective then maybe you could surpass me."_

 _"You bitch!"_

 _"That was advice," Near said and went back to play with his toys as if nothing had happened._

 _Mello finally shook free from his friend's hold and glared at him, "Idiot!"_

 _"Sorry?" Matt smiled apologetically, unperturbed._

 _Mello rolled his eyes and spared the white-haired child a glance, who seemed to be watching him without looking at him directly._

 _He hates how he does that._

 _"Mark my fucking words, Near," He growled, "One day, I will surpass you as L's successor."_

 _Near did not reply._

 _Mello grumbled under his breath and stormed out of the room with Matt in tow._

 _"God, you are such a queen."_

 _Before Mello could turn and snap at him for that, a bright light shone at him and he stuttered, the scene before him dissipated._

* * *

Mello slowly opened his eyes, finding himself lying on his side, his nap disturbed by the warm glow of the sun on his face.

He groaned and rolled over on the spacious bed, blinking up at the ceiling, his body sore and tired, still recovering from the jet lag.

He registered that the room smelled strongly of smoke and there was a distant, consistent typing that had been there when he was asleep.

The blonde turned and peered at Matt who sat hunched at the table, his jacket hanging on the back of his chair and a cigarette sticking out between his lips, his goggles residing in his scarlet hair for the moment.

Several cigarette butts had already made its home in the ashtray, as Matt set to work at creating a program out of the laptop that they'd gotten before making their way here.

He typed tirelessly, his slender fingers flying over the keyboard and long strings of code appearing after another, his eyes practically glued to the screen.

Mello shifted and sat up, Matt noticed and turned to look at him.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he smirked around the cigarette between his lips, before turning his eyes back onto the machine.

Mello rolled his eyes and grunted at that, getting out of the bed, "How's it coming along?"

"Almost done," he said, plucking the smoke out of his mouth and snuffing it out on the ash tray, "I've gotten us a car, we should be able to get it by evening."

Mello went to look over his shoulder and saw just beneath the various windows he had up was the image of the car.

He raised his eyebrows.

"A muscle car?"

"Chevrolet," Matt replied and he detected an undertone of pride in his voice, "Nothing less for the queen."

He turned and winked at him.

Mello scoffed at this and shoved his head down, earning himself a soft 'ow' before turning towards the bathroom.

The blonde glanced briefly at his reflection, catching sight of the ugly scar now permanently etched onto his face.

A grisly memento once this fight with Kira is over.

He sighed, turning the water on so he could wash his face.

When he closed the bathroom door, Matt was just beginning to light up a new smoke.

Mello walked past him and plucked it out before he can take a puff.

"Hey!"

"Lay back on the cigs if you don't want to die young, Matt."

Matt did something almost resembling a pout as he lay his head on his hand, "Huh, funny, I thought I remember that you used to call me Matty."

An onslaught of unwanted memories came back unbidden and his eyes narrowed in warning, "Matt."

"I still remember you getting scared over your nightmare and climbed into bed with me," Matt said, mischief gleaming in his eyes as he gave a long sigh, "You were so much fun back then, before Near's smart-arse got all up on your nerves."

"Shut up, Matt."

His best friend smirked, "Kiss me and I'll consider."

He got a punch to the face instead, not the worst he was dealt with, though, being Mello's constant companion.

As Matt bent over and exaggerated about his pain, a whole lot of whimpering and sniffing thrown into the mix, Mello thought over their plans, not before rolling his eyes at him.

It won't be long before Matt will be done creating his program and downloading it into the flash drive when they'll make their way to Takada's.

What they had concluded from what Near had is that Kira's helper must be connected to Takada in some way and maintaining some form of contact with Kira through her.

He wouldn't be surprise if after this they will have to go through a long list of contact, especially with the news anchor's position.

Mello peered over at Matt, who had stopped his sniffling and went back to his work without so much as a fuss.

His supposedly heart of stone softened just a little at the sight.

"When everything's over, I'll see if I can treat you to a drink and a game, how about that?"

"Fuck yeah!"

Mello bit back a chuckle and rolled his eyes again, this time digging in his bag to look for the bars of chocolate he'd brought over.

* * *

Kira was half-heartedly working at his desk when he saw it happen.

As he went through the various Kira-worshipper websites, the screen went black for a split second, allowing him to see the reflection of his own face.

It happened too quickly for him to be sure, but for that split second he caught it, his eyes shining _brown_ against the light from the computers.

He stood up.

Kira made for the door before the buffoon known as Matsuda could dare to ask him what is wrong.

He rushed into the bathroom, immediately checking his reflection as if his life depended on it.

When he saw it, his eyes were red, the way that only he could see it.

Kira blinked, then his eyes dulled and all the apprehension drained from him.

Light's stupid paranoia is once again getting to him.

For a second he wondered what he was doing in the bathroom, then the nagging thought was chased away from his mind.

 _Just checking._

Kira let slip a disturbing chuckle at his foolishness, washed his hands to play it off for the others who were watching and left the bathroom.

 _Light's dead after all._

 _There is no way that his soul could return, ever._

Kira didn't see the figure that stood behind him in the mirror, wearing the same exact suit that he happened to be wearing, his features shrouded in shadows as he let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

He turned to watch where Kira had left, the door slowly creaking close.

Then his form dissolved and scattered with the soft sigh of the wind.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello peoples, Misty here. :)**

 **So here we are at Chapter 20, or 21, whatever. It's been quite a while since the fic started and honestly I have to say that it's on the verge of 'I have no idea what I'm doing with this plot anymore' if you can see from the last chapter (cries)**

 **But I already have the ending in mind and it's nearing soon, in another five chapters or so, give or take. I have no intention of abandoning this fic, it's like my baby man, but I'll have to say no L and no Light appearing is making me a little… unmotivated, much like when L-thinks-that-Light-is-no-longer-Kira-depression, or something along that line (yay for wacky English).**

 **However, I shall drop another cookie crumb and say that L will return soon and Light will also return soon, both of them are now shrouded in the shadows, kept away from the other characters blah-blah.**

 **Damn, even though I said that this is a LxLight fic the plot gets in its way more than it needs to.**

 **But things have to happen for it to move and I just want the LxLight (cries some more)**

 **It might return, in the future :P**

 **If you're still here, I suppose I would like to thank my reviewers, especially my regular reviewers and those that have been here since the early chapters (thanks for staying, man TT-TT)**

 **I would like to thank:**

 **Weaselandcherry**

 **angelaneahwalker**

 **UnhappyHomicideExperience**

 **TheBeautyInTheDarkness**

 **vivilicious**

 **Karen (guest)**

 **KillerRose17**

 **SP777 (guest)**

 **Theystolemyname (guest)**

 **biggerthninfinity (sorry for the absence of dots but the website format keeps messing the name up)**

 **and others who have continued to read this fic.**

 **And that is all, see ya all next chapter!**


	22. Heartbreak

**A/N: Well, let me just put in a little warning sign here…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **I'm so sorry for this chapter!**

 **Please forgive me!**

* * *

Mello woke and found himself lying on the bed back at the hotel room.

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, looking around for his partner.

His eyes settled on the brown fur jacket laid out next to him.

Mello groaned, shutting his eyes and buried his face in the pillow that smelled of stale nicotine.

 _Matt…_

He reached for the phone in his pocket.

* * *

Ratt paused in his work and grabbed his buzzing phone, glancing to see who is calling before making his way out of the room, away from everyone else.

"Hello?"

"Get Near on the phone."

The man was taken aback at the order, _"What?"_

"Shut up and give the phone to him," the voice snapped.

"What about our agreement?"

Mello sounded irritated, "It stays, now hurry the fuck up!"

The snitch went back in and approached the white-haired boy with caution.

Near glanced up from his robots, "What is it?"

"It's Mello," Ratt uttered, "He wishes to speak to you."

The boy didn't react to the statement but was inwardly surprised that Mello had gave his spy away.

Near took the phone from him, "What is the meaning of this?"

The line was silent.

"If you're trying to pull something-"

"Matt is dead."

Near was stunned into silence for a long moment.

 _"What?"_

* * *

 **Earlier**

The two drove into a quiet street, stopping by the apartment buildings.

"This is the seventh house," Matt mumbled around his unlit cigarette, glancing at his mobile phone. "Guy's a prosecutor, 25-years-old, name's Teru Mikami."

"I'll go this time," Mello said, making to get out of the car.

"Nah, you stay," he plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and tossed it aside, "I won't take very long."

Mello glared at him, "Are you trying to imply something?"

"No," Matt said innocently as he opened the door, turning around to smirk at him, "I just don't want the princess to do all the work."

He scrambled out before the blonde could even think of kicking him.

Matt stuck his head by the window, smiling, "Just be ready to drive off if ya see me run out, 'kay?"

The redhead then left in the direction of the apartment, whistling loudly to himself.

Mello rolled his eyes, checking the time on the clock.

 **19:21**

He'd better hurry up if he didn't want that man come back and find him in his house.

* * *

Matt easily broke in, stepping into the dark house silently.

He had an orange bandana tied around his face, he'd known all about how Kira killed and there's no way he's taking any chances.

The front entrance was connected to a living room and a kitchen, there are three other rooms from what he can see.

Matt went over to try the first door and found the bathroom.

He tried the second and found himself in the guy's bedroom.

The redhead began searching through his desk and drawers, he could've kept his Death Note or other things hidden inside his room.

The search turned up nothing but a couple slips of newspaper articles and some of his cases, as well as a ridiculous amount of law books and whatnot.

Matt tried the third door and found it to be locked.

 _Ooh, secrets!_

He picked the lock and opened the door to a study filled with more books, and thought to himself, ' _damn, this guy is a nerd.'_

Matt walked over to the desk, turning on the lamp so he could see a little bit better.

He searched through the desk drawers and found exactly what he was looking for.

"Good news, we've got our guy," he smiled to himself as he pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures of the black notebook that he had found.

* * *

Mello boredly glanced at the clock.

 **19:31**

 _He's late._

"What did you say about not taking very long?" He grumbled.

Mello then spotted a lone figure walking towards the building.

He sighed, pulling out his phone, "That piece of shit is going to be in so much trouble."

* * *

Matt jumped a little when his phone suddenly rang, realizing that he'd forgotten to turn the sound off.

He pulled down the bandana and answered, "What's up, Mels?"

"He's here," Mello said, "You better hurry it up before he gets home."

"Yeah, I'm done," Matt uttered, picking up the Death Note, "I'm just gunna nab the book for a bit."

A pause, he'd expected that.

"Then fucking hurry up, you idiot!" Mello shouted, that was expected as well.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, before cutting the call, "Later."

Matt was about to slip the book into his jacket when a cold rush of air washed over his back.

He paused, a dark feeling crawling up his spine.

 _The air-conditioning was not on earlier…_

The redhead turned around slowly, only to come face to face with the ugliest mug he had ever seen.

The thing was pale, white pale and had big, bulging yellow eyes, a face-splitting grin (literally) and rows of needle-like fangs.

It leered at him and asked in a gravelly voice, "Whatchu doing?"

The young prodigy screamed.

He scrambled back against the table, dropping the book to the ground with a thud.

The monster was bouncing happily on his heels, " _Hyuk, hyuk_ , that was funny, I'll never tire of this!"

Matt was trembling, his wide eyes gaping at the ugly creature.

"Well, I might as well watch this play out," it said as the front door was being opened.

 _Shit!_

Matt bolted for the doorway, fearfully hoping that the monster wouldn't suddenly grab him.

* * *

Mello was tapping his finger restlessly against the steering wheel when he caught sight of Matt at the balcony, frantically looking for a way down.

 _What the…_

The redhead then hauled himself over the railing and tumbled into the bushes below.

 _Fucking hell!_

Mello immediately drove over to the bushes, where Matt was crawling out of the bushes, his face deathly pale.

"Matt, what the fuck!"

"Drive, drive, drive!" He yelled as soon as he jumped into the vehicle.

Mello stepped on the accelerator, the car speeding out of the street like hell is on its tail.

He glanced at the rearview mirror and found Mikami standing at the balcony, staring at the car as they drove off.

"What the fuck happened in there?" The blonde demanded, even more disturbed to find Matt trembling in the passenger seat.

 _"H-he saw my face,"_ Matt stammered and Mello's eyes went wide.

"Matt, you idiot!"

The redhead let out a shaky breath, "I dropped the notebook in there…"

"Mels, you've gotta let Near know about this," he frantically pulled out his cell, "The prove is in this phone, send it to him and- and-"

Mello was on the verge of panicking, "What the hell are you talking about?! You shithead-"

Matt jerked suddenly, letting out a strangled cry as he dropped his phone.

Mello slammed his foot into the brake, causing the car to spin around before coming to a haphazard stop by the road.

"Matt!"

Matt writhed in the seat beside him, clutching onto his chest as pained cries escape his lips, his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Fuck, no this is not happening!" Mello blurted as he grabbed onto his childhood friend.

"Well… I fucked up, hadn't I…?" Matt wheezed, the semblance of his smile remained on his face.

A sob slipped from Mello's lips, "Shut up you idiot, don't die on me like this…"

Matt let out a pained grunt.

"Hey, come closer…" he panted, "I nidda… tell ya… something."

Mello inched closer and was startled when Matt pulled him into a kiss.

He pulled back, eyes wide and brimming with tears as he stared at him wordlessly.

Matt let out a breathy chuckle, "Been wanting to do that since-"

He winced as a jolt of pain wracked his body, "Since we were fourteen…"

Mello gaped at him, a tear dropping unwittingly from his eye, feeling as if his heart was torn through with a knife.

"At least-"

Matt gasped, his hand clutching onto the blonde's shirt, "I'll never know… what your answer is…"

He smiled softly, before the light in his eyes dimmed and he slumped against the seat, his arm dropping away.

Mello snapped out of his stupor, "Matt?"

More tears pricked at his eyes as he grasped onto the front of his shirt.

He shook his friend, "Stop joking you fucking bitch."

He was dismayed when Matt remained still and unmoving.

"Idiot," he sobbed, "Stop fucking around and get up already."

Mello kept shaking him, "You damned coward, is this how you're planning to steal a kiss from me? Fucking get up and get it for real you fuck…"

He buried his face in his shirt, hands clutching onto it tightly, "Why…"

If Matt had let him know earlier, then maybe… maybe he'll accept it.

But now it's too late and he's gone.

 _Forever._


	23. Farewells

Near was once again building another structure, this time he's determined to stack the replica of the London Bridge out of playing cards.

He was rather proud of his work, having spent seven hours and twenty-one minutes on the precariously built creation.

It was made to be precisely accurate and huge such that it dwarfs Near while he is crouching and a little taller to him when he stood.

Near wasn't very short, just slightly shorter than most boys his age. He hasn't even reached his maximum height yet.

The boy was placing the last card on the structure when a call came in from Gevanni. Momentarily distracted, his hand slipped.

The structure wobbled and the entire thing crumbled to the floor in a wild flurry of cards.

Near stared at the pile of fallen structure blankly, the card that is supposed to complete his creation hanging limply from his hand.

Rester saw that he wasn't going to get up anytime soon and took the call for him.

"What's your report?"

"There wasn't much," Gevanni muttered as he looked down at the notes he had taken, "He basically did the same thing as the last four days, with the exception of going to the gym for an hour before returning home."

"His schedule is terribly methodical," Near commented to himself, still staring at his cards.

"Oh, there's also this, while he was travelling in the train earlier today, a woman had been sexually harassed in front of him." Gevanni said, "I saw him pull out what looks like a black notebook, but he put it away as soon as someone else confronted the culprit."

"It seems like he had taken to carrying it with him when Matt had broke in that time," Near stated, beginning to gather the cards from the pile that's large enough for him to jump into quite literally.

"Any news on Mello?" The boy asked, turning to Lidner.

She had been tasked to track down Mello ever since he had called to inform them of the fourth Kira's identity before he disappeared.

They managed to trace the call to a certain Red Peaks hotel.

But when Near sent her to investigate, the blonde had already left, his phone smashed and thrown out with the trash.

Lidner shook her head, marking the fifth day that Mello had gone missing.

"This might be problematic," he said.

To be entirely honest, Near had never held any contempt for the blonde, even though the other was bent on antagonizing him for taking the position that he desired so much.

This all out of an admiration for the late L.

The only time he'd begun to hate Mello was when the latter had gone to kill most of his helpers, just to try and prove that he was better.

Now he just felt sorry for him.

It wasn't a secret that Mello and Matt are practically inseparable, they've always been together since Near had arrived at the orphanage, the two were never far apart from each other.

He couldn't imagine what it was like to have someone that close to him and he couldn't begin to imagine what it was like to lose someone who had been that close for so long.

Mello probably didn't deserve to lose a friend like that, or even worse, witness him die in front of his very eyes.

Near had a feeling that Mello would undoubtedly get into trouble after that, to get back at whoever had taken his dear friend away.

This is why Mello does not deserve the title of L, he is too volatile, too emotional.

He would perish because of his feelings before anything else has a chance to kill him.

A thought had been bothering Near for a while now and he can't help but wonder if L had perished because of that very reason.

Or rather…

* * *

"That'll be 3660 yen," the store employee chimed happily.

Being in the service industry, it wasn't unexpected for him to crack a false smile or two.

But now, he hadn't tried to fake a smile this much in his entire life.

All because his current customer, the only one in the store in a rural part of the city, looking every part like a gangster.

Not like those little whiny teenagers that go around throwing their weight only to run with their tails between their legs at the sight of a police officer, but someone who looked like they meant business.

You know, the kind bad enough that he _had_ to be on Kira's hit list?

The man in front of him, despite being as young as the wannabe hooligans, had a dangerous air about him.

The black hoodie covering his face in shadows didn't help to improve that, neither did that large patchwork of scar on the left side of his face.

He made chains and leather that looked childish on local gangsters appear threatening.

It didn't help that he had quite an ugly scowl, looking like he wouldn't be pleased unless he punched someone in the face at least once.

The store clerk tried not to look nervous as the thoughts whirled about in his head, proving that to be a challenge.

The gangster guy reached into his pocket and slammed four 1000 yen bills on the counter, startling him so much that he jumped.

"Keep the change," he said gruffly, before taking his purchases and left.

The cashier unfroze, still pretty shocked from the encounter, shouted after him, "T-thank you, please come again!"

As soon as he walked out of the store, rain began to pelt down upon him, leaving his clothes damp.

Mello ignored it and walked the short distance to his car, his boots kicking up puddles in the parking lot.

He unlocked the door and got in, leaving the bag on the passenger seat before driving off.

Mello drove away from the city, towards the outskirts of Tokyo.

He stopped by an old church by an empty street, the rain slowing down into a drizzle.

The church building had been unused, clearly abandoned for a while.

The brick walls that were initially white are beginning to crumble and vines have creeping onto the structure.

A couple of the church's facilities still remained, including the courtyard, a well and a graveyard.

That was exactly where he'll be heading.

Mello grabbed his items and began a slow trudge down towards the graveyard.

Within it, numerous graves dotted the landscape, the stones seeing the beginnings of decay and were in the process of being invaded by plant life as they were no longer maintained.

He stopped at a large tree, where under it is a grave that looked to be freshly dug, topped with a wooden cross.

He stared solemnly at it for a moment, pulling off his hood.

Mello squatted down and reached into the bag, placing a bottle of vodka at the foot of the grave, along with a box of cigarettes.

"It's not the brand that you liked," he said, referring to the smokes, "But that's the closest one I could find around here."

"This sucks," he huffed, balling up the plastic bag and throwing it away.

His friend can't even enjoy his favorite cigarettes when he's dead, when lung cancer is no longer of consequence to him.

Matt can't even go home, or be buried properly because of some stupid laws and restrictions in place.

Having no actual identity is one of them.

He could blame it on Whammy all he wants but that won't be able to change anything.

Mello reached for the bottle and twisted it open, taking a swig and relishing the burning down his throat.

He then dumped the rest of the 35-dollar liquor at the foot of the grave.

"Here's the drink I promised you," he muttered, "Even though this Kira thing isn't over yet, I still owe you one."

The vodka was emptied and he tossed the bottle aside, staring at Matt's grave in silence.

He still haven't gotten over the fact that Matt had crushed over him for over four years now and he hadn't even noticed it.

It wasn't like Matt wasn't dropping hints or anything, but he was joking and teasing all the time that no one could tell whether he was serious or not.

Whenever he dropped a sex jokes or begun to tease him Mello had always wrote it off as a joke, the redhead had never persisted beyond them or even appear any different.

He's an idiot and too much of a coward, as much of a genius as he is.

Mello briefly wondered if he would ever accept Matt's affection if things have gone differently.

He probably wouldn't, since he had only seen Matt ever as a friend.

But maybe, just maybe, things could have worked out.

If he had just known.

 _If Kira hadn't gotten to him first._

"I'll bring Kira to justice," he said determinedly, "I promise, one way or another, I will avenge you."

Mello stood up, a harsh wind picking up and blowing at his hair as he stared at his friend's grave.

 _He had nothing else to lose._

"Even if it costs me my life."

Mello replaced the hood on his head and turned, casting a final glance at the grave.

"See you, Matt."

* * *

When the blonde had driven off, a figure walked in from the opposite side of the path, wearing a dark coat that reached his knees and a fedora hat that hid his features, his form reminiscent of Watari's.

He walked over to the grave and regarded it in silence.

"We have many paths in life," he said in a solemn voice, "But once our paths are chosen we can no longer return to what once was."

"You chose to follow Mello to the ends of Earth, you chose to go after Kira for him and risk everything that you ever had."

A wind whipped at his form and strands of black hair begun to stick out from under his hat.

"While I chose to remain hidden and throw away everything I had-"

His voice hitched and he took a breath, before continuing, "So that I can save the man I love."

The wind blew his hat off, revealing the mass of messy black hair underneath, a pale face that hadn't often seen the light of day, along with his eyes, the deep pools of black that have seen and grieved in silence.

"But now, I am not sure if I still want to save him," L muttered, his voice quiet over the pitter-patter of the rain.

"Or if I want to kill him."

He trudged over to his fallen hat and picked it up, brushing the dirt off and replacing it on his head.

He turned to the grave a final time.

"Farewell, Mail Jeevas," he said softly.

The detective left, once again leaving the graveyard cold and deserted save for the howling of the wind.


	24. Reach

The bright red Chevrolet streaked down the dark streets of Tokyo, looking starkly out of place as it sped down the wrong way on the road.

It stood out even more as three black SUVs doggedly pursued it, the sight of the chase sending various vehicles swerving out of their way to avoid collision.

The stricken newscaster twitched in her seat as an oncoming car just barely misses them, spinning onto the sidewalk and crashing into a bench.

Her hands are clutching onto the side of her seats in a death grip, both of them bound together by a set of handcuffs that her captor had put her in, her knuckles turning white as the screech of tires and bright headlights assaulted her senses.

The car lurched sideways as they took a sharp turn, tossing Takada around in her seat. She grew sicker at the sensation, as though the numerous bumps and twists earlier had not been enough.

Takada cast another quick glance at her captor, the driver a young man with blond hair and harsh features marred by a large scar on his face.

He glanced at the rearview mirror, his hands gripping tightly onto the wheel as he turned another corner, almost running into a motorbike coming from the other direction.

The biker swerved to the side in a panic, the vehicle wobbling on its wheels before running head-on into a black SUV.

Takada flinched as she picked up on the resulting crash, the sickening noise of metal twisting and glass shattering made her look back and she regretted it almost immediately.

She didn't have time to worry about it for long as her captor tugged on the wheel sharply, the tires screeching loudly against the tarmac as it twisted into a new road.

Her captor emitted a curse, causing her to open her eyes and realize that they had ended up on the freeway, this time going in the correct direction.

Takada soon realized that it was not any better than driving into oncoming traffic.

The freeway only had two lanes and a steady stream of cars, there were small pockets of road barely narrow enough for a car to squeeze through as they rolled leisurely along on a weeknight.

Mello glared and slammed his palm into the middle of the steering wheel, the loud honking only served to drive Takada's anxiety higher as they sped into the middle of the traffic that opened up for them in the midst of confused panic.

She felt her heart stop as a loud grinding noise sounded on her side of the car as the sensation thrummed through her veins, her eyes catching sight of the sparks that disappeared in an instant.

The road cleared up soon after and Mello drove his foot into the accelerator.

Takada could only stare, too petrified to even react as the red needle quivered in the two hundreds.

Only one car remained on their tail, as the other had been slowed by the traffic, now weaving through in hopes of breaking free.

* * *

The driver finally drove clear of the jam, speeding down the clear stretch of road as the screen of her laptop flashed on, showing N's insignia in the middle of it.

"What is going on?" Near demanded irritably, having been in the middle of negotiations with L.

"Mello has taken Takada," Lidner said, as the red car came back in sight, "I am currently in pursuit of him."

The line was silent for a beat, before Near ordered, "Do not let him escape, get to him before L does."

"Understood," Lidner responded as she watched the SUV collide into the side of another car, the vehicle slowing down and the distance between them and Mello grew.

She frowned and her radio suddenly garbled to life, informing that backup is on the way.

 _About time._

She chased the Chevrolet towards the end of the freeway, where a line of black sedans waited. A group of men in black are standing by the cars, guns pointed in their direction as a threat.

Mello growled, his foot hovering over the middle pedal.

His eyes widened when a black vehicle with tinted windows appeared out of nowhere, crashing into the side of the line of cars and sending the men scrambling in a panic.

The tires shrieked as it pressed into the other cars, managing to clear a path narrow enough for him to slip through as the men recovered and begun shooting at it.

He silently thanked whoever it was, as his car shot past the barrier set up for him.

* * *

Lidner gaped as all of this happened, slamming her hand into the wheel.

She stomped on the accelerator, aiming to go after Mello at all costs.

The mysterious car reversed, blocking her path.

"No!" She yelled, stopping just in time before she crashed into it.

"Lidner?"

Lidner stared as the red car turned the corner and disappeared.

"He got away," she gritted her teeth as she muttered.

The shooting stopped as the black vehicle went still, the engine humming as they aimed at it cautiously.

There was not barely single mark on the car even though it was shot at multiple times, even the window had remained intact.

Lidner got curious as she realized the car was heavily armored and it was clear that it intended to help Mello.

 _Who is it?_

She grabbed her gun and reported, "He appears to have an accomplice, the vehicle had stopped and I am going out to investigate."

The other men approached the car with caution when it suddenly charged at them.

Gunshots filled the air as it halted, beginning to reverse in the way it had come from.

"Lidner, what is happening?" Near sounded more anxious by the minute as she tossed her pistol aside.

"He is getting away," Lidner said, slamming her foot into the accelerator, "I'm going after him."

It spun around in the middle of the street and raced away, Lidner chasing right behind it.

* * *

L hurried over to the private car park in the basement, a black helmet in his hand and a dark coat thrown over his black shirt and jeans.

He had no time to waste, not after what he had just saw. L was in the surveillance systems of the city, as well as the SPK's and the Taskforce's.

The fact that his current assistant, Nico, had disappeared into a residential area with one of the SPK member on his tail did not bode well.

Especially when more than ten minutes had passed, while Mello was spotted in the parking lot of a warehouse, abandoning his car and loading the newscaster into the back of a truck before driving off, his destination unknown.

All he knew was that he was headed for the highway leading westwards out of Tokyo.

He was well on his way to escape with Kira's accomplice.

L could imagine that Kira himself is not letting him get away like this easily, not when he already had a plan in place, knowing his shrewd mind.

He can't lose another one of his successors to him.

L's phone rang as he walked towards his bike.

"Nico," he answered urgently, his voice demanded to know what had happened as he climbed onto the black vehicle.

"Sir, the vehicle has been lost."

"I see," L replied, knowing that he had managed to escape, seeing as he was able to contact him, "Return immediately, I'll be going to Mello."

"Understood."

L slipped his phone into his pocket and started the bike.

He pulled the helmet on, the visor was tinted black, obscuring his face completely in case anyone who knew him were to see him.

He hoped that he won't be too late as he tore out of the parking lot on the bike.

* * *

"Light…" Takada's frightened voice filtered through the phone.

"Takada, where are you?" Kira falsified a worried voice, more for the sake of the audience around him, "Are you alright?"

"He…" The phone picked up on a gulp, before resuming the transmission of the shaky voice, "Please help me, Light."

"Takada, we talked about this," Kira said, making the impression of an anxious officer and a good boyfriend, "You know what to do in this kind of situation, right?"

A silence proved that she knew what he was talking about.

They had discussed it, once.

She can't forget about it as it concerns her, greatly.

"I…"

"Tell me you remember, Takada," Kira urged, inwardly laughing at how deluded everyone was by Light's honeyed voice, "Please."

"Y-yes…" she stammered, "I remember."

"Can you do it, Takada?" Kira inquired, as the others watched him, most are worried about her.

They won't even know what he's really asking of her. "Do it for me?"

A pause, before Takada answered hesitantly.

"Y-yes."

And that was all he needed, "I'll come to you."

Kira smirked inwardly as he hung up and told the others where to go, watching in amusement as they scurried out to save the newscaster from Mello's clutches.

They'll never know, that Takada had just given him consent…

To kill her.

Kira followed Mogi and Aizawa into the car, laughing at how idiotic they are when they both sat in the front, leaving him alone in the back, free to do as he pleases without them knowing.

He smirked to himself, reached for his watch and pulled on the dial four times.

Game over.

* * *

L sped down the empty stretch of road, the sky brightening as morning approaches.

He was not certain that Mello have come this way, but it's the most likely choice.

He had to be around here.

L then spotted the broken road barrier, twisted out of shape as if hit by a large vehicle.

He slowed down and looked at it closely.

It led through a thin strip of trees along the road, part of the beginnings of a forest.

Crushed bushes and trees littered the ground where the vehicle seem to have gone. Large tire tracks were imprinted in the ground, looking to be from a eight-wheeler truck, like the one that Mello had been seen driving.

L realized that the road seemed to be leading to the abandoned church that Mello had buried Matt in.

He followed the path immediately, hoping that Mello had not indeed planned to die, praying that he wasn't too late.

The building came into sight soon after, the back of the truck sticking out the front of it, as it seemed to have crashed into the church building.

L's heart sank as he saw this and told himself that there's still a chance that his successor is still alive.

Then the truck exploded, bursting into flames that engulfed the building as well.

L hit the brakes and the bike spun to a stop, as he stared disbelievingly at the sight of the fire.

No…

He was about to go and make sure, that perhaps in the off chance that Mello is still alive when he saw the car in the distance.

He could see Aizawa and Mogi, their face frozen in disbelief as they stared at the burning church.

He saw Kira in the back but only caught sight of the lower half of his face, a dark smirk on his lips.

That was when he knew that Mello is truly dead.

Kira had him as well.

L clenched his fists.

 _Just how much more is Kira going to take from him?_

L fought against the urge to go down and kill Kira with his bare hands.

But no, he couldn't.

He was supposed to be dead, so that Kira could not kill him, made it so that Kira would not think of killing him.

None of them had seen him yet and he was determined to keep it that way.

L turned his motorbike around and drove away before anyone realizes that he was there.

* * *

Kira flashed a crooked smile, one so brief that none of his companions would see it in time.

He watched the fiery carnage outside the car window and noticed a flash of black in a distance.

It was gone before he could see what it was.

His eyes then caught onto something else, a wispy, sandy form swirling outside his window.

It looked familiar.

Before he could begin to discern what it is, his eyes dulled and he saw nothing but the devastating fire that engulfed both Mihael and Takada's bodies.

He didn't remember the melancholic look in its eyes or at the speck of black that he'd seen.

All he remembered that his plans had worked.

Now what is left is to deal with Near.

He had given the instructions to Mikami, to come on the date that Near had set for them all.

Kira smiled, the two fools too distracted by the fire to keep an eye on him.

They'll never know what hit them.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Finally, this thing is updated, it has been more than a month ._.**

 **Anyways, I feel like I should inform you guys about somethings, before my impending absence.**

 **Uh, it probably won't be as bad as I've stated, lol.**

 **Right, the first thing I need to address: update frequency.**

 **I'll be updating much slower in the coming months, because of tests, end of year projects, end of year exams, national exams, etc. (** **All the fun things yay~)**

 **I'll probably sneak a chapter or two regardless, if I really, really feel like it but that's only a possibility.**

 **The update rates will return to normal once my November exams are over (why u so far away :( ).**

 **Then the next news would be about a sequel. Yes, you heard it right, if hints have escaped you before, this thing will have a sequel.**

 **But, it won't start anytime soon. It'll be at least a new fic up before it will even start so, urm, too bad, I try not to do too many fics at once or I will never finish any of them. The short ones don't really count.**

 **The third thing will be the rewrite of this story. It will start once this fic is finished and there's a couple things I want to add and refine before I consider this complete.**

 **One of them will be explaining why L is so concerned about Light 'destroying' himself in the beginning, that is all I will say.**

 **… I'm sucha tease lol XD.**

 **Fourth thing I will talk about is two other Death Note fics I have going on right now, called 'Chains of Fate' and 'Moonlight' (I almost capitalized the 'light' part XD). There isn't much going on right now with them but you can check them out if you want and, um, the next fic that will be coming out would be for D. Gray-man, still no idea what to call it, but it's the first fanfiction that I have written and I have planned a lot of stuffs for them so look out for that I guess?**

 **That's all and well, have a nice day/night/whatever and until next time!**

 **Bye~**


	25. Defeat

Misa felt herself in a great mood today, as she wandered about the kitchen cooking breakfast for her beloved boyfriend.

The days had been passing smoothly, Light had been making an effort to return home and had seemed happier recently, evident by the numerous hugs and kisses he had bestowed upon her each night.

 _What's there not to be happy about?_

She hummed a tune from one of her songs, scattering the basil leaves upon the omelet that now sat upon the plate, while the coffee maker droned nearby, something Light can't do without in the mornings.

As she turned to grab the mugs, a shadow in the doorway made her yelp in surprise.

Light was leaning against the doorframe, face partly obscured by the darkness of the living room.

His eyes are a dark hue of brown as he watched her, his face solemn.

"Light?" She asked in a soft voice, "What are you doing?"

Light pushed off the wooden frame without a word and approached her silently.

"Light?" Misa felt spooked all of a sudden.

 _Hadn't he been in a good mood recently? What's happened?_

"Misa," his voice was grim, it reflected on his face as he peered at her, face indiscernible.

"What's wrong, Light?"

"Misa, please listen to me," he said, giving her a pleading look, "Listen to me carefully, ok?"

"What's going on?" She asked, eyes wide, "Misa doesn't like this."

"I just have this feeling," he muttered, his eyes watching her closely, "Kira is soon to be caught in the near future, I am afraid that something might go wrong while that happens."

"Before that, I want you to be safe," Light continued, looking upon her imploringly, "You can't be here, you can't be near me."

Misa's brown eyes were immediately filled with tears, "Light is asking me to leave?"

"Please, Misa," he said, "You have to understand, it's too dangerous-"

"But Misa wants to stay!" She cried, grabbing his arms, "Misa can help!"

"No, Misa," Light said firmly, "I just want-"

He appeared to collect himself for a moment, while tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"I love you, Misa," he whispered gently, "So please, do it for me, ok?"

"But-"

"I won't be able to live with myself if something happens to you," Light said sincerely, "So, please."

"A-alright," Misa said hesitantly, wiping her tears and plastering a smile on her face for his sake, "Misa will do it, for Light."

Light smiled thinly, "Thank you."

She tilted her head upwards for a kiss and was alarmed when instead of kissing her, Light took a slight step back.

Misa stared at him, disorientated.

"Light?"

"I'm sorry," Light said, "You should get ready to leave soon, time is running out."

He squeezed her arm and flashed her a reassuring smile, but she remained disillusioned, as if setting her eyes upon her boyfriend for the first time.

A slow smile spread upon her face, one that does not quite reach her eyes as she cheerfully said, "Ok, Misa is going to get ready now."

As she turned for the bedroom, Light called after her.

"Misa?"

"Yes?"

"Remember, no matter what happens," Light said in a solemn voice, "If I did not contact you, please don't return."

Misa stared at him for a couple moments, before smiling and nodding, "Okay! Misa will do just that!"

Light watched her go, before sighing heavily when she had disappeared out of sight.

"I'm sorry, Misa," he muttered under his breath.

It appeared she had gotten his unspoken words as well.

 _That he is not going to get out of this alive._

* * *

Well, well, he can't say that this wasn't what he expected to see.

Kira tilted his head slightly as he set his eyes upon Near, the young L-lookalike.

He had seen his face, but that was only on paper.

It was only by meeting him face to face was he struck by how similar they look, black and white, black empty eyes, sitting in that trademark crouch that he had grown to hate.

The only things that are different is that Near has white, curly hair, a stark contrast to his predecessor and a slightly pudgier face, evidence of his youth.

Kira smirked like a cat flashing its fangs upon the mouse it had finally snagged within its claws, "Hello, Near."

The teen looked upon him in what seems to be disinterest, as he uttered, "Hello, Light Yagami."

The large fan hummed overhead, creaking from its rust-covered gears.

Parts of the roofs have rotted away, letting weak sunlight pour through and illuminate the building in a dull glow.

Old wires were exposed and dripping sounds echoed about the room, coming from a single broken pipe.

Large and small puddles dotted the ground and the air smelled of damp and rot of the abandoned factory.

A fitting place for an L-successor to request them to meet him in.

Kira resisted the urge to grin even more.

 _A fitting place for his grave!_

He sensed Matsuda behind him shivering from the chill.

Or rather, the fear of him as the mask slips, slowly.

He cast his black eyes upon the other party, Near and the SPK. They were staring back at him impassively, while their eyes held the hints of a glare.

 _Insolent fools,_ he spat in his mind, though he did nothing, in actuality.

He let his face morph into a confused little smile as he inquired, "So, what now?"

Near stared at him blankly, much like the fool L usually does as he said, "Now, we wait."

 _A futile attempt to drag it out_ , Kira thought as he said with a smile, "Alright, fine by me."

The child knew that Kira's proxy would be here soon.

 _But there's nothing that he can do about it,_ his mind snarled.

Kira resisted another urge to smirk triumphantly as he cast a level gaze upon the group of four.

It wasn't long until Near stated, "He is here."

As expected the idiots behind him looked around cautiously, hands on their guns. The foreigner investigators did the same, while Near and Kira merely stared at each other.

"Do not worry, we will not be harmed in the process of this," Near said, "Put away your guns."

They glanced at each other in fear and confusion, as they knew that not taking action would eventually end up in their deaths and thus, could not discern why the white-haired prodigy would tell them to not do anything despite the threat being so close.

"We shall do as you say," Kira declared, prompting the SPK to release their weapons first, then the Task Force, all while looks of nervousness remained prominent on their faces.

Matsuda peeked at the slit at the doorway and suppressed the urge to squeak when he sees blood red shining in, the one eye belonging to a deranged killer.

 _"Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, delete…"_

The mad whispers echoed about the warehouse, sending a chill into the air.

Kira could sense the fear coming from in front and behind him, no matter how hard they tried to suppress it, he could taste it in his tongue, fueling his sadistic glee as the smell of victory permeated the air.

He was almost giddy from the sensation as the chanting grew even louder, his senses sharpened as he heard the cries of rats as they scattered from the dark hysteria, feel Matsuda's shivering and the quick scratching of names in his skin, letter by letter.

 _Soon, soon, soon, soon, soon-_

 _All of you will die…_

The voice gets louder and louder, until it was the only sound they can hear within the room, the scratching carved onto his skin deeper, breaking into his veins as the noise and the fear flowed acutely into his blood.

He felt the moment Mikami engraved the last stroke into the Death Note, the moment he achieved his dark enlightenment, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as pleasure filled him, his task for his God complete.

It was as if time was slowing down after that, as the seconds ticked by sluggishly, fear and shock made the air thick as pitch as they waited for their inevitable doom.

"You, the person outside, Mikami," Near said suddenly, attracting their attention, "Have you written the names down?"

Kira resisted the urge to tilt his head in broken wonder as the harsh whisper came from the door, as if spoken from a vengeful wraith.

"Yes, I have."

"Why don't you come in? Since you have written the names down, you have nothing else to fear."

Kira felt sharp eyes fix onto him, asking for guidance, while he continued to stare at the white-haired boy.

What is he still trying to pull, when death is already at his door?

Still, it was clear that his plan had succeeded and Near will meet his end here today.

The beginnings of a smile tugged on his lips, threatening to manifest itself. Kira kept his face blank, he still had a role to play. His reveal will only be at the end.

There are no problems.

"Yes, go ahead," he said, "Come on in, Mikami."

An insane smile slowly spread upon the man's face as he pushed open the heavy door, the high-pitched creaking that reverberated through the room synonymous to the sound of Death's arrival.

Mikami stood by the door, cheat heaving as giggles spilled from his lips, the Death Note tucked tightly to his chest.

"How much time has passed, Mikami?"

The dark-haired man smiled and peered at his watch, his eyes following the second hand intently, voice ominous as it spoke of their end.

"31… 32… 33…"

Kira smiled darkly as he counted down the seconds, looking into Near's eyes and his eyes only. The way he did L's as he dies. He wants them to remember. Remember who defeated them, who bested them when they had thought themselves the best, thought they could catch him in the act, when he is in fact, untouchable.

He is God.

" _And I win_ ," Kira announced, smirking gleefully as the last second sounded.

Nothing moved or dared to breathe, there was only dead silence.

Suddenly, all the world came back into focus, the fan continued to turn, the humming and the dripping water now filling back into the space.

It was Kira himself who became frozen, his eyes widening as they continue to move, hearts beating and breathing as they looked about in confusion.

Near's eyes now smirked back at him, even as his face remained expressionless as they realized that they are not dead.

He could sense their bewilderment as with his own, as Mikami gasped, trembling.

"What, why is it not working?" His head snapped over to Light, "God!"

Mikami started for him in desperation.

Kira could only stare blankly as Near ordered them to apprehend him, Mikami screaming and gasping as Mogi and Gevanni descended upon him, pinning him to the ground as he struggled, his mad eyes set on his God.

"What's going on?" Aizawa demanded, alluding to the fact that they are not dead like they are supposed to be.

"That notebook over there," Near pointed at the book that fell from Mikami's hands, "Is a fake."

 _What?_

The white-haired teen tugged something out of his shirt, "This is the real Death Note."

Kira's eyes flickered over to it, his gaze sharpened.

While turmoil and confusion swept over his being, the others were ordered to check the content of the Death Note. It was Aizawa who went to pick it up, flipping to the last page.

It felt as if iron cables were wrapped around him, when the officer confirmed that Light's name is the only one that was not written.

"Impossible!" Kira opened his mouth to scream, struggling against the evidence that threatened to seal his lips together. He pointed at Mikami, his posture shaky as he shrieked, "He must be trying to frame me, that man! I am not Kira!"

The others merely answered him with looks of disappointment, the situation was already unsalvageable.

"The truth is already out, Yagami," Near said in a deadpan tone, but his eyes were clearly glaring at him, "You have lost the moment you said, 'I win.'"

"That's as good a confession as any," Aizawa added solemnly, closing the book.

They knew now.

The world begin to crumble around him.

 _Had I lost? No, how could I lose? The plans were perfect!_

He cast a dark glance over at Mikami who looked stricken, his hair plastered to his face, eyes wide and unseeing as his wrists are locked in cuffs.

"He has not betrayed you as you have thought, Yagami," Near said and Kira hated the smug grin that began to form on his face, "Shall I explain how we swapped out the books?"

He did not reply, simply glared at Near while his hands formed into fists, his eyes blacker than ever.

"As you know, I had Gevanni over here tail Mikami when we discovered his identity, thanks to Matt and Mello," he said, "You anticipated that we might find and tamper with the book, so you have Mikami replicate the Death Note and keep it in a safe place."

"Gevanni learnt that he uses a single page exactly everyday to write names in, so I set the date for our meeting. That was also a hint to you that we are going to try to alter the Death Note so that you may take action, it made your movement transparent, as you would need Mikami to use the real Death Note on this exact date to kill all of us here. However, your oversight came with Takada's kidnapping."

Kira's expression turned to surprise as he continued, "When Mello kidnapped her, he forced you to have to kill her in order to keep your identity safe. Mikami, however, took matters into his own hands. As we know, he has an extremely methodical lifestyle, one with routines that he never breaks no matter the day or occasion. He heard of the kidnapping and broke his routine, making his way to the bank to retrieve the Death Note to write down her name. That revealed to us the location of the real Death Note and allowed Gevanni recreate the entire Death Note as you see there."

Kira's head snapped over to Mikami and snarled at him, where the man shook and babbled, "No, god, please, I'm sorry, I did not mean- I thought your movements were trapped- Forgive me!"

"You have lost, Yagami, or rather, Kira," Near said. "Why don't you turn yourself in."

Kira turned to stare at him, then threw his head to the sky and cackled, the reflection from the puddles showing his eyes glowing red.

"Turn myself in," he repeated the words, giggling, "You forget one thing, Near."

"What is that?"

The smile curved about his face eerily, sending a chill down the spines of the onlookers.

"There is not just one Kira."

The Task Force gasped, grabbing hold of their guns, some trained it on him, while others looked about frantically.

"You think that I would not be prepared for something like this?" Kira mocked, "That is where L fell, Near. _That is where you shall fall too_."

"But Light?"

Kira's eyes snapped over to Matsuda, startling him.

Matsuda regained his composure and spoke calmly, even though his eyes only spelled sharp disapproval for him, "Misa left for the States a while ago."

He turned to the older man questioningly, confusion etched on his face.

"You sent her off yourself, remember?"

 _WHAT?_

Kira gaped at him, then realized that he indeed didn't see her all morning. In fact, most of her belongings are gone, as though she was prepared not to return.

Memories of the day came back to him bit by bit, but he doesn't remember when or why the hell he even sent her away.

 _What the fuck is going on?_

He stared at the water, his eyes a solid red.

"Just give up, Kira."

Near's voice roused him from his inner turmoil, reminding him that he still had an audience and a battle to win.

He put on a furious look and said, in the most authoritative and self-righteous tone he could muster, "Give up? How could I, when the world is filled with trash and rot!"

Kira took a step forward as an imploring gesture, and stopped when the SPK trained their guns on him, "Don't you understand what I am trying to do here? What Kira is doing is cleansing the world, the criminals, the wrongdoers, the ones destroying the lives of others?"

He began to step away, pacing in a bid to distract them, "When I have the power to get rid of them, you expect me to sit by and watch as people get hurt or even die, when law and justice are not effective in the slightest to punish them? Are their lives worth nothing?"

Kira could see that at least Matsuda and Gevanni are beginning to be swayed by his words.

"Where's the justice when you are convicting someone who's trying to do what's right?" He ended the words with a pitiful voice, lowering his head, his body slightly turned away from the others.

"Taking the lives of others is not justice, Kira," Near sounded resentful as he stated, "It is murder, you killed twelve FBI agents, two innocent women, caused the deaths of Matt, Mello and L and you dare to call that justice?"

Kira shifted and lowered his head further, his right hand inching towards the other, "Indeed it is not."

A smirk appeared on his face as he reached the watch and revealed the hidden slot.

"That is a divine punishment!" He bellowed, grabbing his pen from his pocket with only one goal in his mind.

"Stop him!"

There was a deafening crack and he screamed, the pen flying out of his hand as he clutched his arm, dark blood spilling from his wound, his face contorted into an ugly grimace.

He glared when he saw that it was Aizawa who shot him.

Kira had a monstrous look on his face as he unleashed a rage-filled scream, his voice high-pitched as he yelled, "HOW DARE YOU, don't you know who you are shooting at? GOD! A god!"

"You are not a god!" Aizawa glowered at him, "You are a murderer, you killed your own father, you monster!"

Kira panted, staring down at the paper as blood dripped from his fingers.

"His blood!" Rester alerted as he saw Kira's movement, as the young man began to write down the rest of Near's name in quick strokes.

"Damn it!" Aizawa raised his gun again.

This time, blood sprayed across the paper, rendering it unusable as Kira let out a scream of agony. His eyes were wide as he cast an enraged look upon Aizawa, a flash of white teeth were bared as he charged for him.

The older man gritted his teeth as he let the bullets fly in a moment of panic, hitting his mark as Kira shrieked like a tormented beast, falling into a puddle and sending drops of water flying into the air.

Aizawa panted when he finally went down, his shoulders slumped and weapon hanging limply from his hand as he stared, dispirited at Light's broken form.

Kira heaved, every lungful of air sending flames of pain down his wounded body. His shoulder ached, as his wrists, as his chest, in numerous places. The sensation of defeat, is that how it feels? Agony wracked his form in entirety as he lamented, wondering why he had failed, why is there no one left that could help him. Mikami is captured and useless. Takada… Misa…

He groaned as he turned over, his goal to get up from this filthy puddle was halted when he caught his own gaze in the water.

 _Brown._

That could only mean one thing.

Wildfire filled his heart when he realized the answer – the reason why everything is falling apart right now, is because of _him_.

"YAGAMI...!" He emitted a long, drawn out scream that startled all who was present by the sheer power of it, including Near who later tilted his head in wonder when Light had yelled his own name in rage.

It seemed to have struck something in Mikami, as he shuddered, unnoticed by everyone as their attention are fixed on Kira whose breath grew even harsher, twisting to claw at the water in unrestrained rage like he had gone mad.

He reached into the pocket of his coat and slipped a penknife into his hands, clipping the blade in place.

"For you, God…" he whispered, as Kira's cries echoed in the background, "Forgive my sins."

He turned the knife back to face his stomach and stabbed.

* * *

Memories came unbidden to Kira as he ran, cowardice and hatred his only driving force as he fled as quickly as his wounded body could go, all of borrowed time.

Ryuk's voice echoed in his mind, _"When you're nearing the end of your lifespan, or if you were about to get caught, I will be the one to write your name."_

At the moment, he could somehow sense the Death God's leering grin far above him, his time trickling away and he is unable to stop it.

Kira stumbled and fell, yelling in pain as he struck the ground, blood smearing the ground as he begin to crawl.

 _I can't die- I won't die, I am God, I am immortal!_

A stab of pain shot through him, reminding him of his pathetic reality.

This is all his fault, Light Yagami's, if he had been dead…

The red-eyed man somehow climbed back onto his feet, using the last reserves of his strength to trudge forward aimlessly, going anywhere but here.

He didn't remember how he made it to the steps, the memory of pain in his body clued him that he had fallen as he stared up at the hole in the roof, dimming eyes staring up at the final light that he would see.

He could sense the scratching of a name on a Death Note, Light Yagami's name, high above him, where Ryuk must've sat. His mind's eyes saw the Death God sitting on a roof, where the same light is touching, the black strokes as it ran across the paper, the messy scrawl of his name beginning to form, the indistinct figures of men running as they searched for him.

That was all that Kira saw.

And then he saw no more.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Yoooo, it's been a while. This is sneaky update #2, I think, I don't remember XD.**

 **Anyways, this is not the end yet, I repeat, not the end. There is one final chapter and probably the moment you've all been waiting for. Also, random explainy stuffs!**

 **Well, I more or less stuck to what happened in the infamous (famous?) warehouse scene that Light's identity as Kira was outed, although as you probably have noticed, I have switched up a few things. First, is that Misa was part of Kira's backup plan if the Mikami part has failed, which attributed to his paranoid nature with the pencil lead, which makes sense since I didn't bother to make Near detain Misa or anything, which is also why Mogi stayed with the Task Force instead of appearing with the SPK. So Light played a part in this and sent Misa away, while messing with Kira's memories the way that he messed with Light's memories initially, all that karma and shit.**

 **The next thing is about the person who shot Light. Originally, it was Matsuda, out of anger of his betrayal to them and to his father. In this, Matsuda was not motivated enough to shoot him because he did not trust and respect Light towards the end because he sensed the dark presence of Kira, which made him afraid of him and therefore grew cautious of Light. He somehow realized that that was not the Light that he knew or liked so he was distanced enough to not be led to that action. Aizawa then became the next best option, because earlier, it was shown that he loved and respected Soichiro, which would be the incentive for him to take action against Kira the most because Soichiro had trusted his son to the very end. He also tended to have a strict mindset towards right and wrong.**

 **And ummm, I guess, more stuffs regarding Kira? Well, as I might have said/explained/hinted to some of ya that Kira is not something natural. He is not an actual part of Light or a split personality but appeared from the power of the Death Note. That is because Ryuk had mentioned that he had not seen anyone wield the Death Note for so long or killed as much as Light did, which would allow it to influence Light and created Kira. Shinigamis would not know about this since they would not have seen it, or if it had already happened, would be forgotten. So Ryuk does not know as well that Light and Kira are different. While he's not a part of Light, he inherited some parts of Light because he was created while Light was the owner of the book, which is why he knew Light and also why Light knew him (by knowing himself). Because Kira is not natural, he could sense and see things that others would not be able to, like how he sensed Ryuk at the end.**

 **I guessed that is it for that, I would be working on the next chapter, sometime. (I just had some exams today, language papers and I was like BLEH)**

 **Anyways, have a nice day/night/whatever!**


	26. Contact

"I apologize, Near," the man named Aizawa said in the video transmission, "We can't seem to find him anywhere."

"I see," Near replied. "Continue your search, we will be looking for him too, this mass murderer cannot be allowed to roam free. If he is indeed dead, the search for his body remain a priority."

Aizawa paled as the teen uttered that. "I understand," he said stiffly.

"That will be all."

Near ended the call and huddled in his seat, his finger twirling a lock of hair.

Five days, that is how long Light had went missing for.

It was an unexpected occurrence, for it cannot be that a man that wounded and injured would go far. In his state, he is bound to have collapsed at some point for them to discover either him or his dead body.

 _Where had he gone?_

Near bit his lip in frustration, as Rester sat beside him silently going through video footage around the Yellowbox warehouse over the past few days, looking for any signs of the missing man.

Suddenly, the door was flung open, making the occupants jump at the deafening bang.

The white-haired teen turned to the doorway irritably, revealing a flustered Gevanni who stumbled into the room with his hair in a mess, eyes wild as if he had seen a ghost.

"Near!" He cried, gesticulating frantically, "the books- the notebooks!"

"Speak clearly, Gevanni," Near snapped, not in the mood to entertain anything of the nonsensical nature, "What about the notebooks?"

"The Death Notes," he stumbled over his words, stuttering slightly before he exclaimed, "They're missing!"

Near stared at him, shock overriding his expression, "What?"

They hurried to the safes, where Near immediately had the others scour the area for evidence and any signs of the suspect.

There was nothing except for the speculation that the safe had unlocked by an unknown virus in the program and a single black hair that they were unable to match with any DNA in the database. It was a database containing the recorded information of every registered citizen in the world, one with many organizations combined, that only L would have access to. Yet, strangely, there wasn't a single match.

The only DNA code that correspond to the one in the hair is with the evidence that was found by Lidner, in the wreckage of the car that she had been after. The car that helped Mello get away.

This led Near to wonder if Light had any other accomplice, which is unlikely since Light does not seem to be aware of anyone else. But if he did, that person would have been the one to retrieve Light, which would be the reason why he had been missing for so long.

While he pondered about this, Lidner came over to him.

"Sir, I have found the source of the virus."

She showed him the IP address.

Near's eyes widened.

He proceeded to shoo everyone else out of the room before they could begin to question his reaction and began to make a call, to a certain laptop that he didn't think would have anyone manning it any longer.

The screen flickered when it was accepted, revealing a darkened room that he can't identify and the midsection of the figure who crouched before the camera, wearing his usual white shirt and faded jeans.

Near was stunned into silence when the other shifted the camera onto his face, which belongs to none other than his predecessor, the original L.

"I was actually expecting the call to come sooner," L said blandly, "What happened to all your training at Whammy's?"

"L?" Near blurted, then composed himself, setting his expression into a blank one, "I was told you were dead."

"Indeed," L said seriously, "And it shall remain that way."

"What do you mean?" Near questioned, "If you are alive, I will need to return the position to you."

"I'm afraid not Near," L answered, "It is over, the first L is dead ever since the announcement. I relinquish the name of L onto you."

The white-haired teen was silent before quietly uttering the next words, "What of Justice? If you give your name up, does that mean you're giving up Justice as well?"

"There are unfortunate circumstances."

Near found that he did not expect such words to be uttered by the detective, who had been the one to teach them about his brand of Justice and that it comes before anything else. Yet, he had given that up for something else that he refused to name.

He grew suspicious, and thought about the period of time that he had went missing, wondering what he had done during that time. He thought about the mysterious black car, the safes that were broken in, the missing Death Notes and Light's disappearance. Those incidents remained unexplainable unless…

"L, were you the one who stole the Death Notes?" Near asked, watching his mentor and silently hoped that that was not the case.

"Yes."

Near clutched onto the fabric of his jeans, it did not go unnoticed by the former detective.

"Were you the one who took Yagami away as well?" Near's voice took on a hardened edge.

"Yes," L answered, unfazed as he stared back into his successor's eyes.

"You admitted to being his accomplice?"

"I am not his accomplice," L clarified, "I do not condone his actions in any way."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Near shouted, "You are helping a mass murderer escape, you are committing a crime against humanity! _You_ , L!"

L was silent as Near panted, rage painting his very visage.

"There are things that you do not understand," he said calmly, "I do not expect that you approve of what I do, but I am leaving with Light-kun. I will not return."

Near looked shocked for a moment, his eyes narrowed as anger returned.

"Go ahead, L," the younger male snapped, "But remember this, you are committing a crime. And I, as L, am going to hunt you and Kira down. I am going to find you and sentence the both of you to death. One for mass murder and the other for being his accomplice. Mark my words."

L nonchalantly reached for the 'end' button, as if he hadn't heard what Near had said to him. "Farewell, Nate."

The screen went blank.

Near trembled in his seat, fuming.

He spun around in his chair and hopped off, going to find the rest to track L's whereabouts down.

He can't believe that L had actually done this. He actually gave his title and duty up for that man?

He doesn't get it.

But one thing is for sure.

He is going after the both of them, one way or another, they will get what they deserve.

* * *

Five days ago:

 _"Hm?" Ryuk's writing stopped as he raised his head, his bulging eyes detecting a movement far below him._

 _Slowly, the grin on his lips spread wider, his gaze bright as he chuckled._

 _"Looks like today is your lucky day."_

 _He put his Death Note away and spread his wings wide, soaring high into the sky and disappeared into the air with a shimmer as he leaves the human world._

* * *

 _L walked down the path, his sneakers silent against the concrete as he avoided stepping on the spots of blood that trailed towards the factory building._

 _Nico waits for him in the car, as he is still at an indecision._

 _L had to see him first before that happens._

 _He made his way into the building, avoiding the broken glass and the uneven tiles of the old warehouse. He maneuvered around the stacks of planks, stepped over a patch of moss and a mysterious brown lump._

 _L finally found what he was looking for, the man lying brokenly across the metal steps, sunlight illuminating his pallid features. His suit was a mess, ruined by darkened spots of water and blood that began to harden into rust. His face likewise had blood smeared on it, glistening with sweat and partially covered with damp hair. He was gaze was blank as he stared ahead at nothing in particular, his lips parted as he breathed shallowly._

 _L approached him._

 _The dying man noticed him, his eyes widened and his breathing hitched as he focused on him._

 _The sunlight allowed L to see clearly that his eyes were a bright brown instead of black. There it is, L had found what he had been looking for._

 _He stared as peace settled over Light's features as he eyes slowly slid close._

 _L started, he reached forward to check his breathing and his pulse, fearing that he might have perished, that he might be too late._

 _He was relieved when he felt the presence of his vital signs, faint that it is. He had to act quickly._

 _L reached for his phone to call his assistant._

* * *

Kira gasped, his eyes flew open as pain assaulted him all over.

He stiffened and growled, squeezing his eyes shut.

He slowly opened them again, surprised when he saw that he is lying in a bed, hooked up to a bunch of IVs. A thick blanket was pulled up to his chest, hiding what he was wearing other than a white cotton shirt. His arms and legs are strapped down, leather winding tightly around the parts that were without injuries.

He found himself in a small room, only large enough to accommodate the bed and a couch to the left of it, where there are windows that are covered by thick curtains, illuminated by a border of light. There was a single door to the right of the bed. Kira looked up and noticed a camera pointed straight at him, the red light indicated that it was on.

Kira gritted his teeth when he realized that he had been caught and his mind felt annoyingly sluggish when he tried to think. He deduced that the IVs are filled with painkillers as well as other fluids that his body needs while he was out. He shifted and felt a discomfort in his nether regions and was sickened when he realized that he had been hooked up to a catheter as well. That only meant that his injuries are bad enough that he was unconscious for at least several days for all these and he probably can't leave without warranting himself agony that are currently warded off by the painkillers.

He had to find a way away from his captors, somehow.

Before he could begin to plot his escape, the door opened, revealing the last person he expected to see.

Kira stared, his eyes large as L peered back flatly.

"Kira."

"Impossible," he gasped, his voice rough, "You were dead."

"I could've been dead," L said, "And you almost succeeded."

Kira glared, "Why?"

"The name in the Death Note is false," L revealed, surprising Kira once again.

"Rem…" he growled, realizing that even the Death God had tricked him.

L approached the bed, where Kira started growling at him.

"I believe that you are not supposed to be here, Kira."

"What are you talking about?"

"Do not think that I am unaware of that fact," L glared, "You are not Light."

Kira stared at him, stunned.

Then he started laughing.

"Is that so?" He giggled, "If you think so, what would you do about it?"

L was silent as he goaded, "What _can_ you do about it? You can't reach me in this body. I am him and he is me."

Kira glared as he spat his next words, " _You can't get rid of me_."

L sighed, seemingly tired of this, "My long absence has given me much time, Kira. Time to think. It has come to my conclusion that these have something to do with your appearance."

Kira tried not to react when he saw L pull out the two Death Notes.

"Over the two years I have came up with many theories, I have observed Light in old security tapes before he came upon the Death Note and after my supposed death. All of them told me one thing."

Kira held back a snarl as L said, "Your existence is tied to the Death Notes."

He smirked, "Oh really, L? What are you going to do if it is not, you know that is simply going to erase his memories."

L stared, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter.

Kira grew desperate, his false front affected by the painkillers, "You think that this is going to get rid of me?"

L calmly light the books on fire as he shrieked, struggling against his bonds, "You can't get rid of me! I will continue to haunt him, I will haunt you. When the time comes for me to return, I WILL KILL YOU!"

"Goodbye, Kira."

He screamed as the books continue to burn, the flames glowing an eerie blue as it spread all over it. Strangely, no smoke was produced even as the pages are burnt through.

Kira stopped screaming when the Death Notes are reduced to ashes, slumping into the bed limply as if dead, his breathing quick and shallow.

L walked right up to the bed, close enough to hear his pants as he peered at him.

He watched as he slowly opened his eyes, the orbs a bright hue of brown, the color that he wanted to see.

A soft smile spread on his lips.

 _Finally._

"Hello, Light-kun."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Andddd… that was the end. I actually wanted to work on the other two fics but I guess I felt like finishing this (lol)**

 **Finally, it is over, after about eight months (phew).**

 **Oh, but it is not over. I think I have said this before, but I will say it again. There is a part two for this but it would be quite a while before I start on that. I won't give an estimate, however because how I went about these will be unpredictable, just like everything else (sigh). I have already decided a name for that though, it's called 'Dark Shards: Cracks and Scars', the general plot is more or less down. I would develop it more before I officially start on it. Like, a lot more. In the meantime I would start to rewrite this story and add some parts to it so that it makes more sense (like why the heck was L suddenly so concerned about Light in chapter 4, there is a reason-)**

 **Now, time for a little bit of explanations.**

 **Firstly, about Near.**

 **He is absolutely pissed about what L did. Well, what L did to help Light is akin to him betraying him and also Matt and Mello, who died. He guessed that L knew about their deaths, yet he still chose to side with Light, as he believed and that angered him even more as it would seem to him that their deaths and what he had taught them held nothing of value, when they had loved him and given him the utmost respect in the beginning. L didn't explain about the situation around Light and Kira because he didn't think anyone would believe a story like that, and Light would still be sentenced to death because it would still be established that he had killed all those people. L can't help him as a detective because that is against his principles, a crime like that cannot go unpunished other than with a death sentence. If L didn't take him away by his own means, all of his sacrifices for Light would have been for nothing.**

 **As for Ryuk, he let Light off since he is not going to get caught and he is not about to die, simple as that.**

 **And a confirmation, Kira is indeed gone. But (hint), he is going to continue to haunt them both for a while, as he said, (another hint) along with other things/people.**

 **That is it, hope you guys enjoyed this one. I certainly enjoyed writing it.**

 **Bye~**

 **-Misty**


	27. Notes

A/N:

This is merely an Author's Notes/A notice of some sort, I ain't gunna apologize because I didn't come empty-handed. So here are a few things to note:

1\. Following some reader's suggestions (mainly Weaselandcherry so maybe check out her stories or something), I have decided to rename this the old version of Dark Shards Part 1 and as its name suggests, make it that due to a few reasons. So the new version of it is under the same name but without the "old version" in the title, which is a rewrite of the entire story. The storyline stays mostly the same but feel free to check it out

2\. Part 2 of Dark Shards is out (just one chappie LOL) It's called, 'Dark Shards: Cracks and Scars' so give it a read puease. :P

That is all I have to say, uh, bye XD


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